This blog Refuses a Name!

Write-In San Diego

2010-11-02T03:59:00.001-04:00

The only official write-ins I've ever been to were in Madrid. I think about five people showed up. I thought it was the most awesome thing. I wrote my first 5k day there.

Well this year, I'm in a smaller but better represented region. I went to the kick-off write-in Sunday night at the Studio Diner. It was fun starting at midnight surrounded by people who didn't think I was crazy, but it was so different from the write-ins in Madrid.

There were about 20 people there, so you would think it would have been four times the fun. It turned out to be about four times as dull. As I said, it was fun starting NaNoWriMo surrounded by other participants, but there was no camaraderie, no conversation besides the table behind me chattering away distractingly.

I don't know. I'll still be going to more write-ins this month, I just don't know what to expect any more.

In other news, I'm around 2300 today, which is a pretty good start on getting above goal early on. The word count widget is on the right side there, right above my old winner badges.

Also, did I mention that my little brother and sister are doing the Young Writers' Program with me? We all of us made our goals for the day, so I call that a win.

Maybe I'll post an excerpt soon.

Rebekah blogs

2010-10-26T23:16:00.003-04:00

These socks are epic! No I didn't make them. I just like socks. And I like wearing green.

What? Rebekah's blogging again?
OMG!

Yeah... I figured 6 months of unannounced hiatus was enough. Plus, it wouldn't seem like NaNoWriMo without blogging about it.
That's right! It's that time of year again.
If you've ever enjoyed creative writing, I encourage you to visit nanowrimo.org and seriously consider what you've been missing out on. It's a ton of fun even if, like me, you never plan to do anything with your novel after you draft it.

This year, My main character is a teddy bear who serves as a source of comfort and wisdom to a ten-year-old girl named Katie. Here's a picture:

Here's where you come in. Neither the bear in the story nor the model bear have names. I'm looking for a name that's both cute (as in, something a young girl would name her stuffed bear) and wise (as in, something that would sound good played-off in the title of a novel). Do you have any ideas? Post them in a comment!

And here's to a moderately thriving blog experience for the next 6 months!

P.S. I'd promise, but you know how that has a history of going. I do, however, mean to post a short synopsis of what I've been up to since I last blogged. (Since that seems to be what people want to know of a recent college graduate.) TTYT!

[EDIT: I'm temporarily going with Rufus Puddlemore. I'll still take suggestions though, and if I see one I like better, I might change. Ooh, and click the Nano '10 button on the right to visit my profile and see the working cover art!]

"Help Heinz Fight Hunger"

2010-04-28T09:20:00.000-04:00

As seen on facebook...

Apparently, this child is very hungry.
Apparently, we're supposed to feed this child ketchup out of the bottle.

Welcome to today's newest most awkward ad!

Your birthday in history

2010-04-20T12:45:00.003-04:00

I've been really really busy lately. I do apologize for not blogging in forever (almost literally) Anyway, I do promise to update you all on Spring break in Mexico, my thesis, etc. as soon as I'm relatively free, i.e. May.
Until then, I break my silence in order to bring you something absolutely pointless, yet strangely fascinating. Do you know what historical significance your birthday has? Look it up on wikipedia! It's really interesting. For example, I share a birthday with Larry King, and on my birthday, Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address, and Columbus landed in (the future) Puerto Rico for the first time.
What happened on your birthday?

I missed knitting

2010-02-16T09:48:00.005-05:00

It's like I'm simultaneously living two lives. One in 2010, and one in 2009. The me of exactly one year ago is at her first day of orientation in Paris. The me of exactly one liturgical year ago will be going to Mass on campus tomorrow and then getting to explain to all the non-catholic students at "Catholic University" what carême is.

The Knitting Olympics have started! I'm absolutely in love with my project. The 100% superwash merino wool, the bamboo double-point needles. It's a dream to work with. And, though the colors are deliberately jarring, they are just so cheerful that I can't help but be so happy when knitting this hat! Even stockinette in the round isn't boring.

"What hat?" you ask? "Knitting Olympics?" you question me with a disdainfully bemused expression? Yeah! I'm making myself Jayne's Pretty Cunning Hat! It's pretty universally awesome.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch firefly here or here before asking. You won't be sorry you did. The hat makes its debut in "The Message".

I'm taking a picture of my progress every day and posting it on ravelry and Picasa. Check it out!

Red, Yellow, and Orange. And Allspice.

2010-02-10T21:05:00.006-05:00

I went to a time management talk last night, and I won a set of multicolored permanent markers in a raffle. I then proceeded to go back up to my room, where I spent fifteen minutes of valuable homework time proofreading the pack of the marker package:

Unfortunately, the "Rambunctious Red" marker was too big to use, so I had to use a normal red pen. (Thanks, Emily!)

And my yarn came in today for my knitting Olympics project. I'm making a Jayne hat! If you don't know what I'm talking about... I'm sorry for you. Go watch Firefly. Now.

I got some bamboo needles, something I've been wanting to try for a while now. I tried them out today when I made the swatch to test my gauge. They're so great. I love how they feel with the wool, and they just slide beautifully. I can't wait to get started! I'm not allowed to cast on until the opening ceremonies begin at 9:00 pm Friday.

I was so glad to be able to find almost the exact colors I needed for the hat. The thing is though, that I would feel sorry for anyone who received a project made with "Allspice" in anything other than an ironic manner. It's the exact shade of the carpet in Nana's old house. Knitpicks wasn't around in the 70s though, so I don't know where that die came from. In any case, I am grateful it's there though, because I'm gonna make me one pretty cunning hat!

Christmas Cards

2010-02-10T21:00:00.002-05:00

Did I mention these in an earlier post? I feel like I must have, because they took up a significant portion of my Christmas break. Well, I think I made 16 cards total, though there were still a few I wanted to get to, so, sorry if you didn't get a card from me. There's always next year, right?

Anyway, I took some photos of some of the cards before I sent them out, and I've just put them online. You can see the collection here. They're not all there because a lot of them had very similar designs. Take a look. Enjoy. Lament that you know my parents. ('cause these only went out to people who didn't get the family card)

Cheers!

Christmas break is over

2010-01-10T09:24:00.001-05:00

I keep saying it, but this last month has gone by way too fast.

I’m at the airport right now, ever so grateful for free wifi!

I’ve never flown out of the Commuter Terminal before. I’ve always kind of wondered how that over half lives… where they still put out the little staircase to get into the plane…

But then I flew Ryan Air, and now I wish I didn’t have to worry about this suitcase.
I didn’t make quite enough allowance for Christmas gifts when I packed my little rolling carry-on a month ago, and now last night, I had quite the time trying to fit everything in. As it is, Mom and Dad are going to mail me my new unabridged Spanish-English dictionary. In my defense, I suggested to them that they order it and ship it to school instead of wrapping the thing, but it was still cool to be able to open it Christmas morning and learn how to say “Information Highway” in Spanish. Hint: it’s only one word.

Anyway, wish me luck as I leave my tropical paradise and return to the land of snow and ice. I’m not looking forward to getting up early tomorrow morning and going out into the bitter cold. Maybe it will be worth it though, for you, Dr. Williams. :)

Where has the last month gone?

2010-01-09T02:50:00.002-05:00

Tonight was my last night at work.

This afternoon, Emily left for the weekend and I won't see her till May.

I'm leaving on a jet plane Sunday morning.

Tomorrow night is my last Mass at St. Michael's before...

...MY LAST SEMESTER OF SCHOOL!

It's pretty scary. I keep saying that.

We're all the same.

2010-01-05T18:35:00.002-05:00

...exactly the same.

Everyone asks the same questions and says the same things in the same situations. And then you teach yourself the correct answers for each of those repeated questions. So you end up with every conversation being superficial. It takes a real effort to be truly honest with someone.

These cheerful thoughts brought to you by Ganchi.

Readership

2010-01-04T14:21:00.002-05:00

...weird word.

It has been seven weeks since the last comment on the blog.

I know that people have at least been visiting the site, but I'm left wondering if maybe my posting style has lost its appeal.

So I've put up a poll on the blog page. It's right there in the upper right corner.

Vote! And let me know what you want me to post about.

I'm not so great at this

2010-01-03T20:39:00.002-05:00

This whole daily blogging thing. But here I am again today!

Today was a long day. I was at the church all day long collecting donations for my mission trip to Mexico over spring break. It was a little bit awkward because Monsignor didn't want me to talk from the pulpit, so I just had to wave to the congregation at the announcement and then wait in the back of the church for people to throw cash in a basket. Everyone was really generous and we did really well. I'm getting really excited now for the trip.

Keep praying for the team! Thanks!

A new year's resolution

2010-01-02T02:03:00.003-05:00

After NaNoWriMo ended, I was doing so well for three days then and thought that December would be a good month for me blogging. That didn't work.

There's this thing called NaBloPoMo, where you blog every day for a month. I figure there's no better month to do it than January, so I'm going to try it, but without the website. Anyway.

I've been working at the Chinese restaurant again over Christmas break, which has been a strangely philosophical experience. I'm quite glad that I don't work in retail over those crazy shopping weeks, but in a restaurant like that, you can really get a glimpse of human nature in the holiday season. You can really see how all that stress gets to people. I worked Christmas Eve night and was surprised by how snippy a lot of the customers were after a full day of fighting for parking spaces. Tidings of good cheer!

Anyway, here's hoping your Christmas wasn't too stressful!

And here's hoping I'll be able to blog every day this month.

Has it been a decade already?

2009-12-31T17:02:00.002-05:00

Continuing the tradition I started here and continued here, this is my end-of-the-year blog post where I look back and count my blessings from the past year. It's been a good year...

I traveled Europe by myself.
I lived in Paris.
I bought my second computer.
I taught my first tutoring students.
I completed my French capstone (a long bibliography)
I wrote my second NaNoWriMo novel (and this one actually has some small potential)

So, how about you? What are your accomplishments this year?

And can anyone else believe that it's been ten years since y2k?

Heading Home

2009-12-10T16:20:00.003-05:00

Finals are finally over, and it's time to head home for Christmas break. I got a ride to the airport with my household sister and her dad shortly after my last exam let out. I got to the Pittsburgh airport around 1:00 pm, and through security by 1:15. My flight was scheduled to leave at 3:25, with a layover in Philadelphia. I sat down at the gate and plugged in my laptop, ready to wait for about two hours. I watched the season premier of Better Off Ted.

Then I found out that the flight had been delayed an hour, and that my hour-long layover had turned into 10 minutes. It was a I stood at the departure boards figuring this out that a fellow Franciscan student whom I recognized my sight approached me and told me that her flight had been canceled and that now she wasn't leaving till 6:00. I went to the service desk, where a nice lady and the fact that it's Thursday allowed me to switch to a flight through Phoenix, which is safer weather-wise, and which doesn't board till 5:00.

I called Dad and informed him that I would be getting into San Diego twenty minutes late, then went off to find the girl. It turns out that she's on household council, and the representative for my dorm, so I'll be getting to know her next semester anyway. We sat in the Sam Adams bar down the concourse and sipped strawberry daiquiris, until I accidentally bumped the elbow of a man sitting next to me and fortunately failed to spill his merlot all over his white shirt sleeves. He turned out to be really friendly, and he shared his nachos with us and chatted for a good half hour about college, etc. And he ended up buying us piña coladas before boarding his plane. Plus, I've now got a new friend at school.

I think this beats any other possible outcome of today.

The best photos from Europe

2009-12-02T18:20:00.006-05:00

I haven't posted photos from Europe since Spain I think.

These ones here I've specially set aside because they totally rock. i.e. they're funny...

Here's me and Sancho Panza hangin' in Alcalá de Henares

The cathedral in Salamanca. When they restored the portico, they included a special touch that identified when the repairs were done.

This tree outside the church of St. Cecilia in Rome was the saddest sight of Christmas. Apparently, someone gave up on decorating the tree halfway up! :(

A statue in the Vatican Museum with a phantom hand.

People in Luxembourg either don't speak English very well, or have some very disgusting habits.

If you can read the graffiti on the right, it says "Read the Bible" in French. Spotted in the church of St. Michael in Luxembourg City.

This is a fine example of art found at the Louvre. Yeah, its a guy ripping the entrails out of a hanging animal corpse. Yum!

This gem seen in Lisieux. I bet you can tell what those businesses are. I would sure trust them to take me to the hospital!

This. Is. The. Worst. Thing. Ever.

Manga, as you may know, are Japanese comic books. This is a manga about the Life of Anime-Jesus. Yeah. The title says "The Messiah" and the words above the title read, "Did He come to destroy the world or to save it?"

Yay, Italian McDonalds!

I'm a nerd.

2009-12-01T12:44:00.002-05:00

I was in the caf when I overheard a girl tell a guy on their way out the door, "I'm library bound for three hours." I couldn't just let that be. I immediately started analyzing that statement.

First, pragmatics tells us that, according to the context of the last week of classes, the term "library" is a metaphor for "studying".

But, I had never noticed before that "bound" had so many meanings. We're clearly not tying anyone up, so that leaves us with two likely possibilities...

1. Bound as in "home bound" - not able to leave [the library]

2. Bound as in "homeward bound" - on one's way [to the library]

If she meant meaning #1, she was saying that she was going to be stuck in the library for three hours. She still had to get there first, though.

If she meant meaning #2, she would be be saying that she was on her way to the library from the caf, which makes perfect sense, especially because she used the present tense as she was walking out the door, indicating her destination.

My question though is if...

A. being "library bound for three hours" exclusively means that she plans to be walking for three hours before arriving,

or if

B. it is legitimate to use the adverbial clause "for three hours" to refer to the actual study in the library, without adding an additional clause to the sentence. [i.e. "I'm library bound, and I'll be there for three hours."]

If you're still reading, what do you think?

And if you just skipped to the end, don't worry. I'll be posting less linguistically complicated posts soon, including a post dedicated to photos.

-Ganchi

Excerpt: Never Say Goodbye, Ch 22

2009-11-30T22:40:00.003-05:00

We were in the hospital cafeteria, in a little brightly upholstered booth in one corner, hunched over plates of mediocre burgers and fries in generic paperware. It tasted pretty good though, just by virtue of being greasy food in a starved stomach.

We had been gently evicted when the Quinns finally made it to the hospital from the airport. Jerry and I didn’t want to intrude on a family’s personal bonding time. Sam and Ron simply didn’t want to deal with Travis’ parents. I could understand that motive too.

...

Jerry, sitting next to me, catty corner from Sam, suddenly and without warning, shot his straw wrapper at my girlfriend. “Hey!” she shouted with a little laughing shriek, and she picked up her own straw and shot her own wrapper at the offender. Jerry held up his straw and used it to block the incoming missile.

“That’s it!” I said authoritatively, “This will not be stood for. Out, foul creature, and leave this damsel in peace!” I commanded haughtily as I whipped the straw out of my coke, sending a shower of brown liquid cascading gently on the heads of those at the table like a magical sparkling fountain, and pointed my ferocious weapon at the villain who was challenging my fair maiden’s honor. “En garde!” I shouted, causing some of the other nearby patrons of the cafeteria to turn their heads to look at us. I made a point of ignoring them. The knightly challenge at hand was much more important.

“Oh, that’s how it’s gonna be, is it?” Jerry counterd, brandishing his own makeshift weapon and cocking his head in challenge, “You wanna take this outside?” he suggested confrontationally.

“That would likely be much better,” I replied, in a terrible British accent. We both removed our jackets and exited the booth, taking positions nearby, now with more elbow room, but also in much better view of all the other patrons.

“Avert your eyes, my fair ladies,” I addressed the two princesses still seated, “Your eyes are far too fair to witness this duel.” They giggled.

I assumed a gallant stance, poised for my attack. Jerry did the same, though with a more lumbering demeanor. I made the first attack, which he parried with a quickness that his relaxed attitude did not betray. Then he came in for a jab, which I dodged nimbly, sending me much closer to a small table with an elderly couple eating fried chicken and watching us with interest. We battled on thus, back and forth for several minutes, exchanging taunts and insults with each other.

“Thou shouldst not insult a lady in such a manner as that. ‘Tis highly improper and not at all chivalrous of thee!” I shouted to my opponent as we began.

“Oh yeah?” Jerry answered, “Well your mom seems to like it!”

“Argh!” I grunted in frustration and exertion as yet another lunge of my sword found no purchase. “I admit it, you are better than I am.”

“Then why are you smiling?” Jerry asked, smiling a little.

“Because I know something you do not know,” I answered with a smirk as I blocked another attempt at my chest, “I am not left handed.”

Jerry’s brow furled in concentration as his efforts redoubled and he fought on. Then, after another minute, he spoke again, “I have something to tell you,” he smiled slyly to me.

“Tell me,” I urged, still battering him with my blows.

He paused, “I am not left handed either.”

I roared as he switched hands as well, and attached him with all my force, but we were still evenly matched. I had to resort to terrible taunts in an attempt to gain the upper hand, “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!” I shouted to him.

Jerry broke down and let out a hearty chuckle. “Touché,” he answered, lowering his weapon and raising his hands out in a congratulatory gesture.

I dropped my arms and looked at him in confusion. “No I didn’t,” I corrected him.

And my enemy took that opportunity to strike the deadly blow.

“Alas!” I groaned loudly, clutching at my chest as I fell to the floor, “What vile trickery is this that robs me of my life breath without the justice of a fair fight?” I exclaimed in an outraged voice, “Oh gods! Avenge me of this dishonorable death!” Now addressing Jerry, I continued, “And thou, unjust villain. Thou shalt I haunt all the days of thy life. From beyond the grave, even unto the ends of the earth, shalt I inflict torture upon thy life and upon thy house. Thou shalt find no rest upon this earth for the injustice thou hast done here to me and to mine fair maiden yonder.” And with that, I gurgled and collapsed into a heap on the stone cold floor, dead.

The older couple stood up first, I heard their chairs push back, and their hands begin to clap enthusiastically. And within a few seconds, the entire cafeteria, which had long ago stopped what they were doing to watch our duel, had burst into a rousing standing ovation. Jerry kicked me lightly with his toe and I opened my eyes to see him beckoning me to stand up. I complied, concentrating on the still serious expression on my face. We turned to face our adoring public, clasped hands, raised them above our heads, and took a profound bow. The cheering redoubled, and again when Sam, my damsel in distress, stood up and thanked me for my valor on my lips.

And then we couldn’t stop laughing for half an hour later. The poor Quinns, up on the fifth floor. They missed the entire thing.

NaNoWriMo is over, so I can blog again

2009-11-30T20:02:00.002-05:00

It's November 30. You know what that means, don't you? It means that NaNoWriMo 2009 is over and I've got me a brand new novel.

I stayed more or less on track this year, and never let myself get more than a day or so behind. I had a little trouble there in the latter half of the month, and about 30,000 to 45,000 was forced out slowly word by word. But I made it!

I stayed up late last night getting ahead, and I finished the plot around 2:30 am and 49,600.

Then I had to write another 400-word scene somewhere to tip it over the line. I decided on a dream sequence to flesh out my narrator. I decided way at the end that his dad had died when he was young, so I made it a recurring nightmare about that. I find that listening to music helps me get int eh zone, and I probably could have done just fine with Lorie but I decided to really get into the mood and listen to something nightmarish. It turns out, Revolution 9 is too nightmarish even for a nightmare scene, and by the end of the chapter, I had gotten myself so freaked out that it took me a good fifteen minutes of listening to classical music to calm down.

It kind of made the the win a tiny bit less sweet, but it was still good to be done!

Plus, having a copy of the whole glorious thing helps too. As soon as I had a free moment today, I headed down to the computer lab where I printed the novel on 55 duplex pages. Unfortunately, I also accidentally printed it again on 110 one-sided pages, Using up a big chunk of my printing credits. It's a good thing there's still free printing in the language lab and that I don't have any many more assignments in English left this semester.

So, now that my novel is over, I've got an extra 1667 words a day in me. I've got a few blog posts lined up, including an excerpt from my novel tonight. It's my favorite scene, an epic sword fight with straws and movie quotes! Then a few other things between school work this week.
God bless all,

-ganchi

NaNoWriMo 2009, A Different Kind of Appeal

2009-11-05T17:16:00.004-05:00

Hey! Everybody!

Have you ever wanted to be in a novel?

Do you have great and zany ideas?

Now's your chance to contribute and to make the world a better place!

WANTED: Characters and Plot Dares

My novel is based on a year-long road trip. My characters are all college students trying their very best to live it up in the most creative way they can think of. Hilarity needs to ensue.

If you want to be in my book:

Comment on this post or email me with who you want to be, i.e. name, occupation, appearance, occupation, etc. If I like your character and/or need your character, I'll pick him up, adopt him, love him, have my MCs abuse him, etc. Just know that due to the nature of the book, he'll most likely be a bit part, present for one chapter or so.

in kind,

If you have any ideas or dares for my plot:

Same thing, comment or email. Make it creative and funny, or moving and sad, whatever. The more specific, the better! If I like your ideas and can incorporate them in my story... I will.

Sounds great, right?

But wait! There's more!

That's right! Act now, and I'll email you the excerpt from my novel that includes your character or idea.

Plus! If I use your idea, I'll put your name in the "Thanks to" section at the front of the book, which, honestly, just adds and extra couple of words to my manuscript, but you do get a little credit.

Okay! Get crankin'! I can't wait to see all your creative input!

Fine print:

By submitting plot and/or character ideas, you consent to their being used by me (Rebekah Schloeder) in my own personal creative work.

My life revolves around my novel

2009-11-05T14:10:00.005-05:00

It's November 5th and I'm at 7,152.
Of course, I haven't started writing yet today.
I've just about run out of outline, and I'm having so much fun already. Sure, the characters haven't taken over my head yet, but my novel has already taken over my schedule. I'm a pretty busy person this week. It's Ruah week for household, I had an exam this morning, and I have to finish three papers by Tuesday. And so I'm here to answer the most common question I'm asked by those I tell about NaNoWriMo: "How do you find the time?"
I have time to do NaNoWriMo because it's so engrossing that I just make the time. In a normal month (i.e. not November) I spend a reasonable amount of time doing things that would classify as "chilling" - watching TV, crocheting, etc. Well, this month, all I care about is my novel, and so it's all I do in my free time. It's amazing how much writing can get done in even a little bit of free time.
Sometimes though you have to alternate between staying up late to make your novel a priority and forcing yourself to do schoolwork and using the novel as the reward.
Yeah. I just wanted to blog about NaNo, but I'm really sorry that this post is so dull. I sound like a preachy grade-schooler. It's only the 5th and already my inner editor has checked out.
Yeah. We'll see if blogging happens much this month. But at least you'll know why if I'm not blogging much. And you can follow my progress on...
nanowrimo.org
facebook
twitter
...and eventually here on my blog, if the word count widgets go live any time soon.
Bisous,
-RCS

fall break, fall break, fall break...

2009-10-25T10:26:00.003-04:00

It's been a lovely week or so here in Steubenville. It was really cold there for a while, to the point that I actually brought out my winter coat for one morning - something I'd been trying to put off as long as possible. Then suddenly, it was Indian summer for three whole, glorious days. Classes outside, and a general feeling of hope and happiness that permeated the campus. Then it rained Friday and Saturday, and it's dry again today. At least it's never boring. I just hope the weather cooperates a bit for 4-day.

A deadline for a Spanish paper was moved back (thank goodness) to give us more time to work on it, but now it falls in crazy week! Not really. I just have four papers due within three days. I'm trying to get outlines done before I leave for Indiana, then maybe get some of the drafts done over fall break. One of the papers requires me to read a whole book before I can even start, which is just a little bit less than totally fascinating so far. Oh well, I picked it out.

Lately, my Sundays are even more busy than my Wednesdays. Today, I'm busy straight through from 5-10pm. I'm really looking forward to fall break! And now that I've successfully mentioned fall break in three consecutive paragraphs, it's time to wrap this up and go outline my French Lit paper.

Ciao!

Title

2009-10-20T09:31:00.004-04:00

I ran my NaNoWriMo title through the Lulu Titlescorer, and it said my book only has a 22.9% chance of being a bestseller.

This only makes me less sure of my title.

I really love it, but it might be a little confusing. I wanted your input.

Check out the title and synopsis here, and tell me what you think. Does the title match the story? How do you think it relates?

I'd love your ideas. Then later I'll tell you what I had in mind titling it in case you can't figure it out.

Thanks so much!

Cross Stitch Bag

2009-10-16T18:23:00.003-04:00

My mom sent me a package!

It included the cable for my camera, so now I have access to the photos I take.

It also had the bag that I started working on in August 2008. I thought I had mentioned it, but I can't find it anywhere on my blog.

Anyway. It's a cross stitch bag to hold my bible, etc. when going to the chapel.

I had a lot of fun doing the needlework, and I finished that part just after Easter this year.

I was going to sew it into a bag this summer, but I wasn't able to get around to it.

It's all right though, because my mother did a much better job than I ever would have.

Here's the picture!

Morning Prayer Excitement!

2009-10-15T09:57:00.004-04:00

It's been a great morning so far and it's only 10:00.

So, chronologically...

On Thursdays, we go as a household to 6am morning prayer and 6:30 Mass and breakfast.

This morning, it was just as much 5:30am when I woke up as it always is when I wake up at 5:30am.

Near the end of morning prayer, I heard the door open and saw a couple chasubles come in out of the corner of my eye. The number of celebrants often varies from one to three at morning Mass. I figured we had two priest this morning and that they'd gotten vested early...

We finished and got up to go into the main chapel for Mass, expecting to see two priests behind us. Well, there were two bishops behind us, and two friars and a vicar.

That sort of thing is a shock under normal circumstances.

Oh well. Only at Franciscan, I guess...

But the exciting parts!

At breakfast, we got a new intent! Maria. It was a big surprise this time, so I was really happy and excited, and cheerful and awake. (for 7:30am)

Then the Pre-Thes started coming back from morning prayer.

Then one came over and gave a little card with a wooden rose and a Hersheys bar to Kat. The card had apples on the front and said "CONSIDER THIS" on the inside.

Hm. Odd.

Then another pre-the came over and gave me one. My card had green grapes and said "MY FORMAL".

Then Kat and I had to leave frustratingly early to get to class on time, and had to miss the last two cards (which, I was told later, said "INTENT" and "LOVE, CHRISTINA", respectively)

And even though the text message I received a half-hour later only contained an anti-climactic "Christina intented", I was way too excited to pay enough attention to don Alvaro. Poor thing. He'll get his attention tomorrow and Monday so I can have all my homework done.

[1:30 pm - Edited for clarity]