Geoff and I spent a lot of time this weekend in houses of worship. On Saturday our friends Paul and Laura baptized their adorable daughter, Susannah, at St. Paul Parish in Harvard Sq. Apparently the theme of the day, other than joy and music, was fuchsia. I don’t know how I figured this out but I decided at the last minute to wear this excellent pink top I have that has pretty satin piping. Turns out Laura was wearing this outstanding pink lace dress and had taken the time to hand stamp a pink chrysanthemum on the front of each of the bulletins.
The service was lovely and the reception was great. We got to see a lot of our friends and chat and socialize and have some super delicious food. We picked up a baby hat for the little imp (she really is, she’s totally adorable) from Smiley Baby Hats which is run by my friend Erica. It should keep Susannah’s little noggin warm for this, her first New England winter.
Today we went to church but this wasn’t just the 16th (I think) Sunday after Pentecost. We had a visitation by Bishop Gayle Harris. She’s one of the Suffragan Bishops in our diocese and she’s a hoot. She’s a great preacher, she’ll rib slightly uptight mostly white congregations like ours (koff koff) about not being willing to say Amen! when the preacher says something good, and she sings. Boy, does she sing.
After the service we had a quick coffee hour and then she presented a slide show/video of her time in the Holy Land and there was a general question and answer session with the folks who were there. I was most pleased to see some of the teenagers stick around and also to ask questions. I know when I was 14-15 I would not have had the presence of mind to hang around with a Bishop and talk about her travels on the other side of the world, let alone ask questions about international politics and how they related to her visit. Color me impressed.
After that we retired to our classroom and had a working lunch meeting with Bishop Harris and the Vestry. Vestry meetings are usually a monthly thing for us at church and we usually have one month off in the summer, so this was sort of like an extra meeting. What it really was for us was a chance to ask her for input, ideas, help, and diocesan level support for areas where we might need improvement.
I didn’t expect to find out that Bishop Harris and I hail from the same part of Cleveland, that we’re both HUGE football fans, and that she’s got a great lower range and can, apparently, sing cabaret. (Like I said, she’s a hoot.) After the meeting was over she and I talked briefly and went over my impending wedding and the situation Geoff and I face with unemployment, Geoff’s unemployment being completely gone, getting by with the help of friends, family, and strangers, etc. She reached out and took my hand and was all compassion and said she would keep Geoff and me in her prayers. Then, with that sparkle in her eye, she smiled and said, “we’re going to have to pray up a job for you!”
That pretty much made my day.
Geoff and I take Smoky back to Angell tomorrow morning for his follow up x-rays and blood work. If he passes those then he’ll be admitted for his I-131 treatment. This treatment is different from last time in that 1) he’s still on his methimazole and 2) they’re not going to just kill the growth on his thyroid, they’re going to ablate the whole darn thing. So, when radioactive kitty comes home he’ll be hypothyroid just like me and on an entirely new drug regimen. Please keep your fingers crossed and hope that he comes through this safely and happily. We’ll miss him for the week he’s gone.
~Kelly
The Books are Taking Over... 