Whadda Week!

Well as usual, I don't even know where to begin! Last week, when I left you dear 3.5 readers, I was in the thick of the usual stuff of my life - and I'm still there:) The week ended pretty much as it began, with a rather contentious situation with a client that still lingers.  But crazy as I am, I still have hope because the people involved are good ones.  Sometimes it's just not all up to me.  The balance of the week was spent doing the usual round of client visits, paperwork, mediations and court appearances.  Then came a wonderful weekend.

It started with Friday evening.  St. Peter's church has been hosting Stations of the Cross, about which I have posted earlier.  For those of you not of that particular denomination that observes the Stations of the Cross (mostly Catholic and Anglo-Catholic and other sects and denominations of Christianity that with which I am unfamiliar), the "Stations" as they are called, is a devotional exercise during which the worshipper ponders fourteen points in the timeline - or "stations" - of Jesus' suffering and ultimately death on the cross.  In many churches and cathedrals, one will see fourteen (and sometimes fifteen) depictions of those stops on the way to Golgotha, usually along the walls  of the church.  Most are Biblical and some are not; rather they are based on tradition.  For that reason, there are a number of Christian churches that do not have them.

Note: this is by way of explanation; I have no intention of trying to convert anyone here! That is such a deeply personal decision that I believe it would be the height of arrogance to suggest anyone else believe as I do!

Anyway, the service this past Friday night was of such a depth that I cannot begin to describe it.

Nancy played a number of the movements from Dupre's Le Chemin de la Croix - programme music that Nancy described as "gruesome." Tom H, who built St. Peter's organ, along with Katherine whose last name I don't know (but she's VERY VERY musically talented!!music director??) developed a power point/video presentation of each station, so that from the time you went into this very small, intimate setting at dusk, to the time you finished, you were surrounded with varying dimensions of thought, sound, visual stimulation and silence.  

It was a very moving and powerful experience to say the least.  Nancy played along with the  visual piece - so well in fact, that one almost forgot she was there! Fourteen of us had readings regarding each station and then either a prayer or a description of the movement Nancy was playing.  

After it was over, there was a simple dinner at the parish hall and I did have a nice time sitting with friends from church, but a very big part of me feels that we should have simply left at the end, pondering the meaning behind the sacrifice and the suffering Christ and what it meant for our lives.  

Saturday, one friend from High School, Eileen Y.,(lovetoreadandknit on ravelry) who has lived in Buffalo for more than 30 years with her family, traveled to the Bawlmer area as a parent chaperone for the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra - in which her daughter, Audrey Y., plays oboe! I picked up Peter H.and Eileen from BWI bus stop and the hotel near BWI, respectively; then we met up with Lynne T. at - joy of joy!!! - the trifecta of craft shops in Catonsville - Seminole Sampler, Cloverhill Yarn Shop and The Stitching Post. At

 first I felt kind of sorry for Peter, but we had to laugh: it turns out

 he's the only one who actually bought fabric - a fat quarter of bright green in the

background with toy robots all over it! We spent the longest time at Cloverhill - and boy did I come away with too much stuff:)  So did Eileen! Peter got nothing, but enjoyed the view and Lynne got a skein of some really beautiful yarn with which to crochet a scarf.  Trust Lynne to pick the most vibrant of colors! (She is an artist after all!) I confess I have succumbed to my intense curiosity about spinning: I bought a drop spindle.  It's kind of interesting - the Hi-Lo spindle by Schacht, a name I had heard good things about. Apparently you can spin with either a high or a low whirl.  Hoping to find good directions on the 'net.  I also got a bit of pencil roving.  Eileen has already started her foray into spinning and she got a good hunk of roving along with some beautiful yarn.  She also showed us her absolutely stunning Clapotis, knit from beautiful yarn she got at Rheinbeck (sigh....).  You will want to HIT me when I tell you I didn't take a picture!!!!

After we were done there, we trundled off to Panda Buffet in Ellicott City to have some Chinese

 food.  It was delicious - and fast (we had to get to the Meyerhoff by 1 - YIKES!).  After lunch and conversation, we got to the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in good time and were seated just as the Orchestra were tuning (to Audrey's oboe, I might add:)). 

What a treat! It was hard to believe that the musicians in this orchestra were young people still

in high school! They played George Gershwin's Cuban Overture, Georges Enesco's Rumanian Rhapsody #1 in A Major, and after the Intermission, topped the day off with Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" by Antonin Dvorak.  We were humming the "Going Home" theme of the second movement and the martial sound from the final.  They were "MAHvelous!" After the concert, we met Audrey and expressed our appreciation for her and her cohorts hard work, got Eileen's walker thingie in the bus (she recently had foot surgery and brought this along just in case) and drove her back to the hotel, so we could have more time to chat before we said our goodbyes.  Someone took pictures from three of our cameras and we had our hugs and goodbyes and then it was off to drop Peter at the bus stop.  We had left Lynne's car at the shops in Catonsville, and after dropping her off, I headed home!

I think a good time was had by all - and it was so nice to see Eileen.  It's so funny, when you see someone you haven't seen in decades, all sorts of things come back.  Even though Eileen had a definite Buffalo/Upper Midwestern accent (and I'm sure she thought we sounded more like we were from "Merlin" than NY!), her voice, speech pattern and pace were all exactly the same! She really hasn't changed much - except I think she's less stressed out about the small stuff, which I hope we all are at this point.  It was also great to see that she loves the fiber world as much as Lynne and I do!!! YES:) She was always brilliant and she still is - and she and her husband, Paul, must be so proud of their girls - both also brilliant and beautiful and probably as nice as their parents! They must have done something right:)

Sunday we sang the early service and I had to read for the later one, so as John was off Saturday evening, he came to church (and the walls didn't fall down!).  Afterwards, we invited Nancy to lunch with us (hey, she and Rennie have been so very kind to me, it was a natural thing to do!). I did have to practically bribe her into coming, though; she had a bit of work to do after church. So, I said I'd help out with some music library stuff if she took a break and had lunch with us. We had a nice time and, as promised, I did go back and help out.

When I got home, it was time to clean up (read: make sure the dishes are clean and vacuum), so that we could be ready for Madison's family birthday party.  It's hard to believe she's nine already! Every one of the "kids" and grandkids were there - B's partner, J was not present: she was working the overnight shift and had to sleep.  Madison was thrilled with her Safari hat and presents from Aunts and Uncles.  Ruby was a little tired from the party, but happy to be at "Pop's house." After dinner, we watched home movies from the early 90s and 2001 (when Mads was still a toddler).  One particularly funny one was D's lipsyncing Eddie Vetter's voice in "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam.  He was so serious! I guess that was an early indication of his acting passion! I told him if he's ever hawking a movie on the Tonight Show, I was going to send the host a copy of this! OH. My. Holy. G-d. that was funny!

Yesterday was a round of hearings then a visit in the far reaches of Cecil County, Merlin, then home by 6.

I've made some progress on that shawl - only a few days 'til "show time!" The pic at the top shows I'm almost there - but I'm seriously concerned about having enough time to finish. YIKES!

Well, I've got to make a round of phone calls.  Keep yer fingers crossed for me, dear readers, I need help with this one!  See you soon on the web.  Until then, God be with you 'til we meet again!

+