Sunday Out and About

We spent this morning in an interesting endeavor that will have to continue for several more weeks. We are church shopping. We’d been attending mass (not as frequently as we should) at a church in downtown Atlanta. However, with the baby coming we decided we really needed something closer to home. Besides, trying to do any volunteer work for the church was a big ordeal that was generally not possible because of time and travel. A church in our community would be more advantageous.

So we got out the local phone book (which is about six inches thick) and looked up our denomination. We noted the one closest to home and looked at the website. We made our plans and we went this morning. The church we had been going to was fairly informal. So the first change this morning was me standing with my hands on my hips as I dripped on the floor, fresh from the shower, informing my SO that blue jeans were not appropriate for a Sunday mass. Saturday evening mass, yes, but not Sunday mass.

So all dressed up we went to check out the church. We were a bit awed, and I a bit nervous because of the massive size of the church. It has a school and preschool attached and I have to admit the place was monstrously large. It had several buildings. It was clean and attractive, had a welcoming façade and the people seemed friendly to one another. We were impressed with the diversity of the congregation.

They have a variety of missions. This being the day of rededication of time, talents and treasures to the church, as the sixth Sunday of Easter often is, we were impressed by the number of ministries available for parishioners to participate in. Back home in Illinois I had been a CCD teacher, a Eucharistic minister and a Lector. I helped make altar cloths and we were very active in the lady’s society and the fundraisers. So I liked the fact that there are a variety of options.

I was feeling optimistic until the homily began. The priest was younger, maybe my age, and had a lovely Irish lilt to his voice. But God forgive me for saying it, he was dull as dishwater. He read the homily from a prepared statement and even when he deviated to focus on how much the church needed the contributions of time and talent from others, his monotone and lack of affect made it a chore to pay attention.

After church we took a trip to the local craft supply store. The SO was looking for something called fun fur. Evidently this is a long haired fur that can be cut into strips. When stroked the strips move and behave as if they are alive. This summer’s theme for the summer reading program at the library (my SO is a librarian) is “Catch the reading bug.” This means at some point I will be donning wings and six hairy legs to help chaperone the “Miss Spider’s Tea Party. My love’s library does the coolest things. We’ve done several Harry Potter parties where I’ve gotten to play Professor Sprout, do HP jeopardy and supervise the dragon egg race. They held an Eclipse Prom based on the Stephenie Meyer’s books, they did an American girl party and I got to be Felicity’s mom complete with colonial dress. Add to this pirate days and castle days and a princess party. And that was all just in the last year.

So this summer I’ll be baking spider cakes and wearing wings and antennae.

While we were at the craft store I picked up something I haven’t done in ages. Cross stitching. I felt a bit inspired and bought a couple sets of bibs to cross stitch. One set has bunnies and the other has Eeyore. I love Eeyore. He’s my favorite Pooh character next to Pooh himself. I got started while watching the second X-Men tonight. You gotta love Hugh Jackman. The man is just all out sexy. I used to have a poster of him as Wolverine on the office wall. Silly girl thing, but I figure we’re all entitled.

My other silly girl thing is something that made me squeal when I first saw it. My second favorite piece of home décor (snort) is a framed copy of the movie poster from Kingdom of Heaven. It was signed by Ridley Scott, Orlando Bloom, Edward Norton, Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons and David Thewlis. I swear the day it arrived I was very much like a 14 year old girl.

My favorite piece of home décor? A print of Raistlin from DragonLance signed by Larry Elmore. We have two Elmore prints and two Todd Lockwood prints. The one that hangs in my bedroom is special because it took me three years to track it down.