I promised myself . . .

I promised myself that I wouldn't let this quarter go by without blogging, so here's one. I think one of my problems is that I feel this need to say something substantial, weighty, extended. Got to get over that. Got to get over a lot of things.

Here we are already done with two weeks of the quarter. I can't believe that in eight weeks, I'll be a middler. Time is flying. Not at all like my undergraduate days that seemed to go on forever. Come to think of it, they did -- from '65 through '73 with a four year break in between.

The good news is that I have my head on straight again as far as food is concerned. Now I know how easy it is to gain back weight. I dropped five pounds pretty quickly, but the next five will be tougher. I was also reading that the surgery seems to cause those of us who undergo it to hit a plateau that is tough to break through. I know I need to get my butt moving -at least walking. That would help.

I'm loving my courses but the reading load is horrendous. We're all behind already, mostly because of theology. AKMA and Paula have also assigned a decent amount of reading, as well as Georgia, but it's all manageable. Ellen is trying to give us all we'll need for Systematic Theology and the reading is impossible. In the last 2 quarters, I was able to read about 97% of everything assigned. I'm already skimming a lot of the work this quarter. The irony is that Ellen's readings are fantastic. The class is truly wonderful, but I wonder if we wouldn't be doing it more justice by giving fewer readings more attention. I have stopped reading endnotes, prefaces, and intros entirely and I hate that.

Next week is Holy Week, so we have a bit of a break except for the commitment to services. But Max will be baptized on Easter. I'm so excited. Everytime we pray for those who are to be baptized, I get a chill.

I'm doing this on my new XPSM1210 Dell computer which I love. So far, I'm liking Vista and Office 2007. It's not perfect but what ever is from Microsoft?

An Anniversary

Today is the second anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery -- and I'm feeling great. I had lost 130 pounds, now it's 120 but I'm back on the straight and narrow. Amazing how the weight crept on as I allowed myself little nibbles of sugar here and there. Very insidious. For four days, I've been recording my food on fitday.com, one of the best websites for keeping myself honest and I've been coming in at between 1000 and 1100 calories, 70-80 grams of protein, and about 10% saturated fat. Progress. Interesting how eating badly was really affecting my worldview negatively. Sugar is evil. I'm feeling more like myself now and clothes are looser already. Went out and bought some new stuff I can use in CPE this summer at Good Sam. I'm getting really excited about the impending Baptism of Mr. Max. It sounds like the service will be amazing. The kids are playing the chimes and Hannah Davey will play the viola with them. They're doing sheep safely grazing on Easter Morning.

Enjoying My Break

Even though I'm taking care of tedious things like taxes and car maintenance and haircuts, I am enjoying this break. 73 degrees yesterday didn't hurt. Have seen three movies in the last week: Breach (incredible acting job by Chris Cooper, usual); Amazing Grace (good treatment of history that was not intrinsically exciting, violent, or sexy); and Zodiac (3 hours long! Could have been edited better, but, nevertheless, really good acting and fascinating story even though you know the crime never gets solved). I lived north of San Francisco in Vacaville from 70-72 and I don't remember being the least bit concerned about the Zodiac killer -- and the early murders happened in Vallejo, just on the other side of the foothills. Go figure.

Talked to Suzi Holding about Epiphany. She wants me to write up a list of "learning goals" and then talk to her about Epiphany or wherever. She's right, of course. I need to be a bit more deliberate about this.

I Had an Epiphany

This weekend is so messed up because of the anti-racism course schedule, which made Friday seem like Saturday, and the very early time change, and the beautiful weather (which, of course, isn't messing anything up). Anyway, on a whim and a prayer, I decided to head off to Church of the Epipany near the United Center this morning. It took all of 20 minutes -- what a difference a Sunday makes. I have never felt so welcomed at a church. I got there quite early and was asked to do the Prayers of the People. It's much more relaxed in its approch to liturgy than St. B's, but in a nice, friendly sort of way. I also helped the Warden prepare the bread for the service. Terrific mix in the congregation in a neighborhood undergoing gentrification: African American, young and old, white (some affluent, some not so), Hispanic, probably some gay and lesbian. They had open communion. The service was in an upstair room. They don't use the church for ecological reasons -- heating it would be expensive. There was an incredible amount of construction/renovation going on. I'd like to talk with Meigan, the pastor, about that. She wants to get together with me to talk about the service and the way they do church. I want to talk to Suzy Holding about whether or not it would be possible to make Epiphany the place I do my parish work next year. It's getting me very exited just thining about the possibility.

Winter Quarter 2007

I can not believe how long it's been since I posted to this blog. A whole quarter went by with nothing from me -- and it wasn't that bad a quarter. Except, of course, for reading week when I got the respitory flu and thought death was a good idea. That's what I get for not being innoculated for the first time in 20 years. Health service was good, though. I loved Dr. Connolly. She brought me in to look at my x-ray to deliver the bad news that my heart didn't look that good. I told her it was no surprise to me. Doctors were watching me and it once a year. When I came back for my follow-up visit, she was visibly relieved to see that I was doing better. She told me that she had thought I was having a stroke when she first saw me. I was in such a fog that day. Fever and couldn't stay awake. I do remember having me do the tests they always give people they think may be having a stroke. Well, this week I'm finally getting better. I have more energy but I'm still coughing. Altogether better though.

My work is done for the quarter. Not sure what will happen. I find I'm caring less about grades. That would really be a good thing. It was a great quarter. Gospel Mission got off to a rocky start but quickly got better and better and we began to talk about race, gender, sexual orientation, class, etc. It was an excellent class and continues to make me question my prejudices, long-held beliefs, and Weltanschauung.

Spirituality for Ministry was a godsend. Because there was a bit less work than most classes and because we will not receive a letter grade and because we were focused on our own spiritual lives, it was a nurturing, supportive class. Got a lot out of it. Liturgy II was terrific. Learned so much about Baptism, Eucharist, the Church Year, and Public Prayer. Really enjoyed the early Church readings. AKMA's Early Church History class enabled me to really understand the context of those readings. It was great. The course also truly informed the way I sang and read Eucharistic Prayer A for Use of the Voice. Studying the Eucharist really gave me an entirely new feeling about Prayer A. Elizabeth pointed out to me that my hands were in the orans position as I sang it. At first, I didn't notice. When I did I left them there because it felt so right. And this from someone who never used to be very comfortable about using her body to pray. I'm feeling more like a priest as time goes on. Little by little, I'm transforming.

Old Testament was an excellent course. Brook Lester really knows his stuff and is a terrific teacher. Delightful as a lecturer -- both entertaining and informative. For a little while the first quarter I thought I actually could study OT in depth. Don't think that any more. In fact, I'm having second thoughts about taking Hebrew. More Spanish might make more sense.

It was a wild ride, but I learned a lot and didn't go absolutely crazy. One more quarter and then CPE.

My Deadly Sin Graph -- Sloth?????

Greed:	Very Low
Gluttony:	Low
Wrath:	Very Low
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Low
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	Very Low

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com

So, did the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz and expected to see some pretty exciting stuff. Did not expect that my big problem would be sloth. Not even a little lust -- and I certainly expected gluttony in a big way. But, if I'm honest, I can indeed get very lazy and postpone work as long as possible. Ah well.