Oh Dear!

On Thursday, I went to sign up for a membership for me and my two grandchildren to use the olympic-sized swimming pool at the university here in town. We fudged a little to get the membership, since use of the pool is restricted to faculty, staff, retirees, and their immediate families. Although grandchildren are once removed from immediate family, I smoothed that out with the person in charge, assuring them that I would have only two grandchildren with me, not a horde. The charge was $50.00, which seems quite reasonable.

On Friday, my grandchildren and I prepared ourselves with the swimwear, beach towels, sun screen, and earplug and headed over to the pool, only to find it LOCKED. So. There we were, the children hyped for a dip in the pool on a hot, muggy day, but now looking quite mournful. We found out that the pool is closed on Friday afternoons in the summer. Now we know.

Back in the car, I asked them what they would like as a treat, since their plans for their swim were frustrated. They suggested that we go to Chubby's Ice Cream Parlor. How's that name for reminding you that everything you consume there will make you fat and clog your arteries? Ah, that may be true, but their offerings are irresistible. My grandson had a Birthday Cake flavor cup of ice cream, with two toppings, and my granddaughter chose the Rainbow sherbet, while I had an old-fashioned strawberry milk shake, just like the olden days, rich and full of real whole strawberries and yummy ice cream churned together in a delicious thick mixture. I tasted their ice cream and sherbet, and both were yummy. The visit to Chubby's served to somewhat, if not completely, mollify the kids for the denial of their afternoon swim.

Then we headed off to the local bookstore, Cherry's Books, to order a book which my granddaughter is assigned to read during the summer. I'm pleased that we now have a locally-owned bookstore. I hope they prosper and stay in business for a while. We've had the locals come and go. The competition is fierce with the discounts offered by the chains and online giants.

We'll try again to have a swim next week.

Wenchoster Calendar For June (The Month)

During my trip to England, when our group of bloggers met for lunch at the Tiled Hall in Leeds back in March, Canon Daphne Pullover, who writes the regular feature, The Word From Wormingdale in the "Pharisaios Journal", brought me a gift packet from the Diocese of Wenchoster. Ever since April I have been trying to post the calendar without success. I don't have a scanner. Finally, finally with the help of another staff member from the diocese, here is the calendar.

If you click on the calendar for the larger view, you will see the feast days and activities in the diocese. The names of certain of the saints are unfamiliar to me, but I'm sure that their calendar must be the most accurate.

If you are feeling lazy, too lazy to click, the dates, feasts, and activities are listed below:

1. Feast of the Visitation.

2. Feria.

3. Feast of St. Gregory the Hirsute. (Town barbers will be closed this day.)

4. Feast of St. Olive the Unsteady.

5. Feria. The "Nine Bells," Privy Street is being cleaned this day.

6. Wenchoster Cathedral Pilgrimage

7. TRINITY SUNDAY (Diocesan churches will use the Athanasian Creed at all services this day, including the Churching of Women.)

8. Feast of St. Constance of the Infirmed.

9. Feria. It always is.

10. Holy Mysteries bread baking day.

11. CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSIONS EVERYWHERE!

12. Feast of St. Barnabas, transferred (forcibly.)

13. HM the Queen’s Official Birthday

14. THE FIRST SUNDAY IN TRINITY

15. Diocesan Cricket Competition begins. Howzat!

16. Feria.

17. Feria. Also.

18. Wenchoster Cottage Hospital Gift Day.

19. Vestment Design Fair (Archdeaconry of Trickling Down.)

20. “Nine Bells” Beer & Cheese Festival Week begins.

21. THE SECOND SUNDAY IN TRINITY

22. Feria

23. St. Laura the Tiresome

24. Nativity of John the Baptist

25. Feria. It always is.

26. Feria. Also

27. Petertide Ordinations

28. THE THIRD SUNDAY IN TRINITY

29. Peter and Paul, Apostles. The two greatest.

30. Feria. Again.

I can't say why the list from the diocese stops at June 20. When I have time, I will post I had time, and I posted the rest of the dates.

A closing picture:

Gary Update

From Roseann:

I just talked to Gary's surgeon and everything went really well. They put a pain blocker in his shoulder so he didn't have to be put deeply under and he's waking up now. I'll bring him home in about an hour.

Thank you so much everyone for all the prayers. You're the best!

About My Niece

My niece for whom I asked prayers for a lump in her breast received her report. Here's what my brother-in-law wrote:

It is cancer - about the size of a dime - totally encapsulated - he took out extra tissue. She has to go back next week for chest x-ray, MRI and blood work - and they'll take some lymph nodes from her armpit? I think next step after that is radiation. She's handling it pretty well.

Please continue your prayers. It's not good news, but if the rest of the tests are negative for spread, she should be all right. That was about the size of my tumor. Let's pray that the rest of her story is like mine - 24 years passed. I told my BIL to tell her that people all over the world are praying for her.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant the help of your power, that her sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p. 458)

UPDATE: Please add KJ, his sister, and his father to your prayers.

My sister heads towards the conclusion of chemo next month, and is doing well. She has been the primary support person for my dad in his battle with colon cancer. I can't remember if I reported that it is stage 4. Chemo has been complicated by low white blood cell count. Fortunately, he's a tough old bird.

Prayers For Gary's Surgery Tomorrow

Please pray for Roseann's husband, Gary, who will have surgery on his shoulder tomorrow. See her blog for details and for a bit of good news from Roseann.

"The Vortex"!!!

I received the link to this video from my cousin. Embedding is disabled, so you must click the link to watch this POS.

Perhaps I'm out of the loop, but I had never heard of "The Vortex" or Real CatholicTV. In truth, I'd like to be back in my state of ignorance.

Here is the exchange of emails with said cousin:

Me: "This is a joke, right?" (Indeed, I knew that it was no joke, just more damned lies from the religious right.)

Cousin: "I don't know if it is a joke or not and don't consider it funny. I do believe BO is trying very hard to turn the train to the left. Very far to the left."

Me: "And I am distressed with Obama because he's middle of the road, leaning right. But I knew he would be, so I'm not surprised. The country has moved so far to the right that the middle of the road looks like the left."

Cousin: "Obviously you and I have very different definitions of left, middle and right."

Obviously. End of exchange. This cousin and I once had a "discussion" that ended up in a near shouting match - in a restaurant, no less. I believe that we frightened and embarrassed the rest of the party at the table. We don't discuss politics any more. So why did he send me this POS? I don't know. I thought we had agreed to disagree.

I am surrounded by folks like my cousin. Thank God for Grandpère and a few other like-minded folks and for my online community. But for them/you, I'd be barking mad.

How Silly Of Me

A few days ago, I decided to look for a new brand of shampoo, one that would tame teh frizzies in my hair. The summer heat and humidity have arrived, along with teh frizzies.

On the shelves in the store I faced a vast array of choices, like the cereals, way too many choices, a bewildering array of choices. After I searched for a spell, I finally found a shampoo guaranteed to get the frizz out. The shampoos and conditioners were standing side by side, both guaranteed to stop teh frizzies. Simple person that I am, I hoped to get by with just the shampoo, without having to complicate my life with the conditioner.

Deep in my heart, I know that nothing short of drastic measures will stop teh frizzies in our kind of weather, but I continue to try. Inside the air-conditioned house, all is good after a shampoo and a work-over with the styling brush, but as soon as I step out the door, shampoos, conditioners, styling brush notwithstanding, all is for nought, because teh frizzies are back.

Back to the shelves and to make an already long story short, I grabbed a large size bottle and checked out. Later that evening, I showered and wet my hair down in preparation for the shampoo. I used the little liquid that was left in an old bottle and added the new "shampoo" to the mix. I noticed that there were not many suds, but I figured that anti-frizz shampoo doesn't produce much in the way of suds.

After I was out of the shower and dry, I put on my glasses and read the label on the "shampoo" bottle, only to discover that it contained conditioner and not shampoo. So my hair may not have been clean, but it was conditioned. And I still have teh frizzies. And I will have teh frizzies forever and ever.

Do I hear an, "Amen"?

Why Israel Must Leave The West Bank

Josh Marshall at TPM states clearly why Israel must get out of the West Bank for the sake of its own survival as a democratic country. Although I quote two significant paragraphs, please read the entire article. To me, Marshall makes very good sense.

Let's's be clear what that means: a country that permanently holds territories with residents who lack citizenship, the vote and many of the rights of the citizens of the country in question. You can throw around inflammatory words like 'apartheid' which I don't think is appropriate or apt because of the very different origins of the two situations. But it strikes me as naive to believe that such a situation can be maintained permanently without growing international pressure and isolation that will strangle the country.

What this logic tells me is that getting out of the West Bank isn't a prize to be exchanged for peace if and when you can find a leader on the Palestinian side who you have perfect trust in. Getting out of the West Bank is quite simply necessary to the survival of Israel as a Jewish state. So ideally you get out in exchange for a durable peace. And you try to do it in the smartest and most orderly manner. But you get out regardless. And realizing the necessity of leaving means, at a minimum, as a first step, stopping doing things that make it harder, perhaps nearly impossible, to leave. And the first thing on that list is continuing to build new settlements and infrastructure which creates a growing constituency to stay in the settlements forever.

More From The Pawty I was Not At

 

Against the wall are the Lovely Mona, Muthah, and Pseudopiskie. Back of head of unidentified male, Padre Mickey, and Elizabeth in the foreground.

 

The Lovely Mona and Piskie

 

The Lovely Mona and sweet young thing, Allie

 

Paul (A.), Catherine, and Allie against the wall. Backs of heads of two unidentified males in foreground.

And I'm still jealous and cross that I was not there for the pawty.

Thanks to WhiteyCat for the pictures.

Recession Over In UK

According to economists in the UK, the recession is over "over there". Thus reporteth the The Guardian.

One of Britain's leading economic thinktanks has called an end to the recession after industrial output showed its first rise in more than a year in April.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research said March this year was the trough of the downturn that began in the summer of 2008.
....

"The monthly figures are inevitably erratic but the picture is coherent with the broader picture of stabilisation which has emerged since we first suggested that the output had stopped falling in our GDP release on 13 May", the NIESR said.

The projections seem somewhat premature and over-optimistic to me, but, I know very little about economics, and, of course, I could be wrong.

And, the recession ain't over "over here".