Saturday, January 31, 2009

ball now in editor's court

I've sent off a letter and resume to TouchWood Editions, giving the status of the manuscript. I have to keep working on the rewrite of the novel so as to have it all done by Easter, as I've promised. Positive thoughts only are allowed.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

UBC Farm Friends

Yesterday morning was different. Last September I started a new volunteer job: spending a Wednesday morning every couple of weeks with grade 5 children at the UBC Farm. It's been quite an education for me. Yesterday we came back together after a month away, but this time we met at their school, Henderson Elementary. We spent most of the morning planning our garden plot (1 metre by 3 metres, and about 2 feet deep--How's that for Canadian measurement, mixing metric & Imperial). The children had been studying which vegetables are good companions and which do not grow well together. We, the "Farm Friends", had been sent the materials by email so we wouldn't be too far behind them. One of the teaching points was a Native idea of "three sisters" which was a garden of corn/beans which would use the stalks of corn to grow up/squash which has broad leaves that would block weed growth. We didn't want to have corn because it's too slow for the children to enjoy. Placing strips of coloured construction paper onto graph paper, the children plotted out what they would grow. It was very useful. After this exercise, the teacher collected the "maps" so that the seeds could be ordered so we could start planting in the spring. Our next meeting will be February 11th at the farm. After our planning event, we were served an amazing "pot luck" lunch provided by the children of the class in their classroom. I'm learning so much with this volunteer job, and meeting wonderful people of all ages--most especially grade five children.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

catching up

It's not like I'm busy! I read a little, I watch tv a little, and I write a little. Too little. And some days (not today) I walk a little. Today it snowed again, and here we thought we were through with that stuff. The forecasters say that this will be more typical of Vancouver snow: just a dusting and then rains away the next day. Sure hope so! The past week has been sometimes fog and sometimes sun, but always cold. I'm ready for spring (but this is still January). We had planned to go to a movie today, but the snow was a good excuse to pass on that. We wanted to see "The Reader" and then go to a discussion on the story at our favourite bookstore, "Vine & Fig". Guess I'll have to read the book, because we're not likely to chase down the movie.
Today I've been writing most of the day, trying to get my novel in shape to send to TouchWood before the end of the month. I had set January 15th as my deadline date, but having to rewrite the entire book is not very easy. And I want to have it just right for this submission.

Monday, January 19, 2009

fellowship meeting

Today we attended our Dogwood Fellowship meeting for TSSF. Even though I'm almost ready to be professed in the Third Order of the Society of Saint Francis, I renewed my Rule of Life today at the meeting. So, today is a date I have to remember when I send in my report. Another date I need to remember is Jan. 17, 2006, the day I was noviced. These dates are required in the report to be sent in for my application for permission to be professed.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Epiphany

We had our family Epiphany brunch last Saturday. It was well-attended, even though the out-of-town members couldn't get here due to snowy highways. Even so, we were able to include them by telephone during the event. We had our usual brunch, eggs benedict with asparagus, cooked by my dear hubby. We played a gift game, a variation of the "circle game" we usually play. Then, I handed out the WorldVision catalogues and told the family that each of my children's families had $100 to "spend" as their gift from the Magi. They made their choices, the out-of-towners made their choices by phone, and I placed the order online. This is my way of giving gifts with the Magi, instead of by that evil elf who claims to live at the North Pole. That one, Old "Saint" Nick (really, Old Nick, because he is NOT a saint, definitely no connection to St. Nicholas whose feast day is December 6th), Old Nick teaches greed and deceit. The Magi gave gifts to Jesus at Epiphany, celebrated on January 6th. In our house, we totally ignore the commercial Christmas. We send cards to friends and loved ones, and go to Mass (except this year).

long time no blog!

It's almost two weeks into the new year, and I've been neglecting my duty here. This year has not started off so well. Snowed in until just a day or two ago, I finally got to Church this Sunday. It was my day to teach Sunday School, teaching about the baptism of Jesus. The "activity" (if you can call it that) was to make hot chocolate. It had to be the sort that could be made by simply adding hot water, because the lesson was to prove that "a little water makes all the difference". It wasn't all that simple, because most hot chocolate mixes require hot MILK. I found the kind that claims to take just water, but it wasn't very good. The lesson went okay anyway. And then yesterday evening we had a meeting of Family Ministry members concerning the Sunday School curriculum and related issues. It was a good meeting, even if two of the six members were absent.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Finally got to church! New Year's Eve: We attended 6:30pm mass, followed by a potluck supper at St. James. It was a great evening, until we got home. Backing into our parking spot, we got stuck in the snow and had to get help to dig us out. The good part was that we were already home, except for a metre or two. If you have to get stuck in the snow, I recommend it be done at home. That was about 10pm, so we still had a couple of hours to go before the new year. We did our usual thing: a lot of noise (banging pot lids) at the back door to let the old year out, then more noise at the front door to let the new year in, a cup of cheer, a New Year's kiss, and that's our celebration. Happy Hogmonay! And lang may your lum reek!