Three Things ... Sunday Evening

We've had some sunshine on and off

the last few weeks.

I was so taken by the fact that the sun is not already set

when I walk to church for vespers

that I stopped and took a picture.

I love the golden-ness of the setting sun.

I made the beef stew for last week;

super easy recipe:

can of tomato soup, can of water

beef chunks (sorry to all those vegetarians)

carrots potatoes

caramelized onion

salt and pepper.

It was great and lovely

for the fast free week.

(I am sure I am not the only one that has a hard time

preparing two type of meals with a Wednesday

as a fast day;

I always find meal planning in this regard

difficult!)

My Oma is 101 years of age this year.

She is slowing down

though still doing really well considering her age;

she is mentally fully present

and can still walk short distances.

I am working on a photograph project

of all the things she has made for her grand kids

and that I was the lucky recipient of.

The socks and slippers are

one example of her knitting.

My idea is to make a mini little book of pictures

and mail it to her

with a picture of her and myself as well

as a surprise Thank You and I Love You card.

So often I have been well meaning but not following through on

showing her my love

so I hope to actually do this.

Meanwhile I did get a card in the mail this week to her,

which I am grateful that I was able to do.

I am blessed to have her in my life;

My Mom told me how she can remember when she was a kid

that my Oma (her Mom) would be washing floors while

singing the Psalms in Dutch

which she knew by heart.

She would always counsel me to always pray to God,

read my Bible and go to church

and love my family.

She is such a strong example of a Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother and

given her age

even

Great Great Grandmother.

I wish I could see her more

but am glad I can at least send cards her way.

I am so blessed!

***

On a different note,

I have a quiz in my French class tomorrow,

prayers requested!

Rest and Remember

This is a special week;

a pause before the gaining momentum of the soon

approaching Great Lent.

I thought in the midst of winter,

I would remind everyone of the season of summer,

which will come again.

Today there was beautiful snow swirling around.

I did not have my camera, sadly.

But we must remember to seek to see the beautiful in today.

Being thankful really helps us out of the winter blues

and the long grey days that winter can bring.

The Lord is with us.

He can make winter a time of growth,

a time when the farmer does not see the seeds spouting;

but the land, in the time of rest and darkness,

is preparing for another Spring, another Summer.

God is with us

and His Lent is coming to continue to heal us.

Catch Up Time

Getting used to full time French classes

takes time.

I studied this weekend;

i.e. Saturday

but then found that some tasks

(laundry, dishes)

did not get done.

***

Today was a rainy day here;

should not be;

it is still winter;

some of the sidewalks were

pure ice with a little water on top.

I was sure I would be late for class;

the feeling of almost falling many times

is NOT fun.

A good cause for prayer though!

It looks like we are getting our normal cold back

and sunshine too

by the later part of the week;

I hope so.

I feel so energized by winter sunshine and blue skies.

***

My laundry is done and drying now.

My dishes still unwashed.

Sigh.

But I threw away stuff, organized more...

some more breathing room in my small snug apartment.

I am slowly figuring out where to put things...

It takes time!

***

Since today was a more tired Monday,

I am hoping that tomorrow will be better

and that I can get back into a rhythm for studying French.

I did do some studying today,

but there is so much more I wish to do!

***

However,

God is good

and is our hope, salvation and support.

We are loved

We must remember that

we are not alone

or abandoned.

God, His Holy Angels, the Mother of God and

His Saints,

have not left us.

***

The above picture is one of my favourite icons of

St. Herman of Alaska.

St. Herman is the first special Saint I had...

and is still one of my most beloved Father Saints

and Patrons.

(We can have more than one Patron Saint of course!).

***

My head cold is mainly gone

but am watching it so that I do not get an infection.

Today was brilliantly sunny

and

I thank God for such a day.

I am doing homework, really...

Lighting my lampada in the morning makes a huge difference

in how the day begins!

I knew yesterday that I could not study as hard today.

But this day started out better...

the first days are always hard when beginning a new endeavour...

New people (fellow students, teacher)

New place (wow is the college big)

New bus route (not bad and going home always seems to come quickly)

Same (since late November) apartment though!

Whew for home and for a familiar downtown that I love.

I don't know if I have ever loved living somewhere as much

as I love downtown Ottawa...

I am SO THANKFUL that I still live downtown...

Another Cleo picture.

Cleo is happy to have such a following with some very lovely humans.

I often have to kick her off my chair so that I can blog!

Previous dinner picture.

I miss my social life, but am probably going to a potluck tomorrow.

Studying is hard. I have more than 500 flashcards

already. Etc.

***

Today we had SUNSHINE.

I feel SO HAPPY in winter in Ottawa in sunshine.

I tell you snow blue sky and seeing skaters on the canal

and I am happy.

Much happier than in summer, to the shock of many

who shiver through winter dreaming of summer!

***

My dishes (I got backlogged due to feeling rotten last weekend)

are almost done.

I have been listening to French CBC while doing them,

so it is almost not procrastination!

***

Today my class was a bit lighter in amount of new things.

I think the teacher knew he needed to give us a little break.

Not that I do not have pages of extra exercises that I will do

in a do-it-to-practice but it is not required

book.

Really helpful.

Wow. Lots to do but with God's help,

the prayers of many (I thank God for each prayer)

and personal elbow grease,

I can do it, day by day.

***

Okay.

Time for dinner, French flashcards.

***

QUESTION for you:

Next week for Orthodox Christians is fast-free week. I have some beef chunks in the freezer.

Any suggestions for a simple way to use them?

I am thinking some sort of stew or goulash.

Also:

Any suggestions for a super fast base for soup for lent?

I am swapping soup recipes with a lovely lady at

my local bakery -

she is going to give me a lentil and bean soup recipes

and I am giving her a quick and easy borscht recipe (without the cabbage).

But a simple base for soups I still need.

Key word: simple and fast.

Please share your culinary wisdom with me!!

Merci!!

Bonne soiree!

(Thank you, have a good evening!)

Flashcards Will Finish Me Off

Well.

Try as I might,

Blogger is not letting me easily load a picture

from Picasa today.

My brain is slightly fried.

Made 200 flashcards today.

God is good and

I look to Him for support.

I will have to post another Cleo picture another day!

***

Oh, and my classmate found the word sœur

in my dictionary this morning.

not only was the o and e separate but

it was the only entry with an

soe

beginning

I missed it! Good thing it was there though.

I mean, really, what kind of dictionary would miss that!

French Class - day 2

Today is Theophany (old style).

Blessed Feast!

Hard to believe that we have Theophany after Zacchaeus Sunday.

Let's just say I savour my mint and

chocolate chip ice cream

while I can.

(In modest portions of course).

Today I...

*was 2 minutes late to class, oops. still getting that bus route down

*found some quiet places and feel a bit more oriented

*bought a paperback French/English dictionary by

Merriam-Webster for cheap $$

and they did not have the word

sister

in the French half!!

Really.

I looked NUMEROUS times.
sœur

was not there.

(It was only there under the English side).
Sœur is one of my new words of the day.

My beloved sœur sent me

a chocolate bar

from Romania with my Romanian friends

and a letter she wrote in English and Romanian!

She and her husband are working hard in learning Romanian.

I am proud of them.

Oh, right about my class and such.

So I made 50 new flashcards

and have 200 more that I wrote the French too

which were words in my book that I will need to know

but that the teacher did not say to learn...

yet!

And I think I got my

Être - Je Suis very endings down (for the present indicatif ) today!

Well.

I have more français to study now.

THANKS everyone SO much for your encouragement

and thanks Alana for the link to flashcards...

not sure if I will buy it

but will for sure use the site for studying... so Thanks!

I did not know about this site!

I have been using LiveMocha as well,

which various people in the blog world told me of

(Thanks again).

If there are other sites or tips on language learning,

let me know!

I am totally into person-to-person information gathering,

as they say in the library world.

Hope everyone is doing well!

I need to be disciplined for the next hour and a half

and then I hope to read a few blogs before

my small night prayers and bed!

I am so happy (though at times quite overwhelmed)

to be studying French full time.

It is such a blessing.

***

Oh, about the picture.

Just thought it was cute.

When I was not feeling well this past weekend I shut the blinds

to rest but moved my Icon so Cleo could still see out the window.

Cute, eh?

Oh, and the black books on the book shelf are my

Agatha Christie books.

Yep.

I have over 80 of them.

I am serious about my Agatha Christie! :)

(A friend found them No Lie for 50 US at an antique shop

in the States for all of them -

mint condition, less than 1.00 a piece. I have almost all of the books that she wrote).

Okay.

Homework calls...

***

Oh and the Christmas tree.

Well it was just Theophany today... :)

First day of French Class

French class:

*overheated building

*crush of students

*no computer access (still figuring this out) on campus

*over 30 minute bus ride one way

*need to find quiet places to eat and study

200 Vocab words A DAY

1000 in 6 weeks.

Overwhelmed, excited and tired.

***

I am in a period of adjusting to all of this

My Orthodox Blog feeds already have 26 unread.

Please know that I will be reading

but if my commenting is not as much,

know that I still care.

***

Back to vocab cards...

***

Update: Upon telling my lovely Deacon's wife about the

vocab amount

she quickly said the math was wrong,

sure enough,

1000 vocab words / 6 weeks is 166 words a week

NOT

200 a day.

That said, I know I did more than 30 vocab words today...

THANK YOU for your prayers!!

The next step in a series of steps

Some verses I have been thinking about:

I sought the Lord and He answered me

and delivered me out of all my fears

***

In repentance and rest is your salvation

in quietness and trust is your strength

***

The Lord is merciful and compassionate

abounding in mercy

***

The Lord knows what we are made of...

dust...

***

I start my French class tomorrow

with the same sense of not knowing at all what it will be like.

Similar to flying to a new country

except that I no longer have the youthful

anticipation for it.

I can tell you that I think taking French for me is going to be like

a very prolonged Lent

in which I must depend on God

work as hard as I can

and scale back activities according to the season.

***

I may not be able to blog as much,

email friends as much,

or comment on blogs as much.

I certainly am backing off from Facebook more and more

as time goes by.

***

But it does not mean that I have ceased to love my friends

including those in the blog world.

But for the sake of my working towards a future

that includes a job

and to be true to the diligence that French studies requires,

I will have to do what is needed.

Right now I don't know what will be needed!

That is the hardest part.

I can only anticipate

watch

pray

and find my yellow cards to be ready to create Flashcards,

starting tomorrow,

the Eve of Theophany

(old style).

So please know that if I have commented on your blog

or if you comment here

that I care about your existence.

That I hope to still be here

but that ultimately

are care and love comes from God

and we must all trust God in this.

***

So with little more dramatic flair,

and with a Kleenex box in hand,

a note book, pen and purse

and some food

I will begin my newest adventure in life.

Going to school with God as my protector

my Guardian Angel I pray near by

and the love and prayers

of the Saints who

are always

with

us.

Thanks

I appreciate every one's well wishes.

Head colds are something are they not?

I decided to stay home from liturgy as I am still not feeling 100%.

More naps, chicken soup and hot tea are needed.

First class tomorrow.

May God send His mercy to all of us in need.

Head Colds Always Sound Worse When One is Getting Better

Like the ornament?

One of my school teachers made one for each in the class

when I was a kid.

I sure had some great teachers.

***

Well.

I have been doing some serious resting.

Chicken soup as mentioned.

Chocolate.

Tortilla Chips.

Tons of Tea.

Many naps and lots of Agatha Christie books

(I own almost all of them, but that is a post for another day).

***

I got a ride to vespers and

a good friend took me grocery shopping.

My chicken soup, Kleenex and cookie supplies are now restocked.

***

I have felt really tired

but have less sinus pain at present

and am praying that

on Monday morning I can

by your prayers and the grace of God

be strong as I start my French studies.

***

Meanwhile,

I am thankful that the dinner I ate tonight

I could taste.

Colds can do strange things to taste.

***

May God have mercy on us all,

whatever our situation is tonight.

Thank God for Prayer

It was bound to happen.

I finally came down with a sinus cold,

after feeling like I was fighting something

for some time.

It is still Christmas week for me so chicken is on the menu.

Chicken soup with added garlic and pepper.

Please say a prayer for me

that I can get over this cold in time

for French classes this Monday

9 AM.

I thank God for His goodness.

Three Lights Make All the Difference

A patient friend installed my three IKEA lights.

My kitchen may be small

but with these lights,

it looks so bright

and cheery!

My beloved Mother of God Icon.

This one is always in my kitchen...

I can't get over how the light makes

everything gleam

and bright.

What a blessing!

Does the Drama Ever End?

Gulp.

Through FB I heard a rumour of a college faculty strike

where I am to take French

starting this Monday.

I called the school,

was transferred to Public Relations

and voice mail.

Will this strike happen?

I guess they vote on the strike tomorrow...

If it does happen, does it effect my class?

If it does effect my class,

what should I do?

Please pray for me and everyone involved!

I know there is nothing I can do currently -

the strike may not happen

it may not effect my class...

Lord have mercy!

What Qualifies As Excitment Around Here

4 birds came to visit us on the 8th floor today!

Cleo had no idea,

so after spying the birds,

I took Cleo over to the gold chair...

She became Cleo the Huntress.

Forget cute meowing.

Hiss and more hiss, growl and furious tail wagging ensued.

The birds,

if they can hear through the glass,

acted oblivious to Cleo's antics

and calmly flew away

(see the one about to dive off?)

with the beautiful white feathers

pluming in the descent.

Soup

I bought this mortar and pestle

before I left for the Holidays.

My sister had given me

cardamom pods last year

and I finally, when I could grind them,

I forgot what recipe I wanted them for!!

So I found this lovely soup recipe -

sweet potato and carrot

Lots of great spices;

I love spice and after my first batch,

I think I would add more pepper to it.

It reminds me of what pumpkin baby food

looks like

but it tasted quite good,

I can assure you!

I am trying to start this new year and chapter of my life

with better eating habits.

This soup is a good beginning...

Prayer Request Update

The little guy's surgery,

from what they can tell,

went well.

He will be in the hospital recovering until

at least Thursday or Friday.

Please continue to pray for him!

Thank God it has gone well thus far!

Winter holidays in three pictures

I can post pictures now that I took when I was home.

Above is my parent's dinning room table

and the meal is for my birthday.

It was comfy and home -

my Mom's mashed potatoes, home grown beans, meatloaf

and hot fruit salad.

The Christmas tree was so lovely.

I am always sad to take these things down...

Mine is still up,

as in sitting on top of my coffee table,

as we are still in the 12 days of Christmas!

I went to one of my favourite Aunt's birthday party,

where we toasted her 75th year.

Really special times.

I thank God for them!

Prayer Request

A little boy I know

less than 1 year old,

is having a significant surgery tomorrow morning.

Please say a pray for him.

+++

Lord have mercy on all children!

A Quiet Sunday Evening

At Church we are still in the glow of Christmas...
I will probably take down my decorations towards the end of this week.

Theophany is next week Tuesday;

I will miss the liturgy - will be in class for my second day.

But we will have Great Compline and the Blessing of Waters

Theophany Eve.

I am so delighted to not be missing it all.

Thought that candles tonight needed to be lit.

A quiet evening.

Adjusting to life without others

again.

Home I always get lots of people time...

now I get lots of Cleo the Cat time!

Thank God for my church family

so I am not as alone.

Does anyone ever do this?

I will lid my frying eggs

forget about them

and then smell them

oh no!

rush over and see once again

a huge egg bubble on one side....

Tasted good though,

with a small dash of ketchup.

Very Canadian to have eggs

or macaroni and cheese with ketchup.

I am Canadian American with Dutch heritage.

***

I need to make a soup for the week.

***

May God bless our evening.

Word for the year: Love

RW, Victoria and David

have all chosen words for the year.

All very good words:

Deliberate, Trust and Professional.

This year I think my word needs to be

Love.

God's love for us all

and

Love of God and of others.

A holy hieromonk told me,

you cannot save others but must love them and so save yourself.

***

I have a long way to go to get to Love

but

this is where I must go.

Christmas Time (old calendar)

This morning was Christmas.

This was a bit of a strange Christmas for me in ways.

With Resa's death (a friend of mine is a friend of hers)

and some other friend's hardships recently

my heart felt a bit heavier than some years.

Yet, Christ came in harsh circumstances

a stable for animals

dirty, smelly, unkempt.

And so I decorated my house a little bit

(see picture above).

And I did my first Christmas Eve dinner.

Small,

borscht, perogies, salad and bread.

Two friends came over to eat it with me.

I used my new candles that my Mom gave me for Christmas,

they are made of beeswax and are

almost as good as church candles,

though nothing can really compare to those!

This picture is one from the Christmas Meal we had at home

on December 25th.

I am back online with my own computer,

so I can post pictures again.

***

Please pray for my two friends this week

(nameless for privacy)

who have sadness this week.

***

I found out that my French class

(finally registered)

is going to be Monday - Friday

9 to 12.

With the tons of studying that will accompany this,

I realized I cannot have a part time job.

I will have enough savings after to not make this a

all - or - nothing decision.

I start in a week.

Wow. It is going to be intense...

***

May God help us in all we need to do.

Amen.

Revised Psalter Schedule to Pray for Resa

Okay, Revised Schedule with TeresaAngelina and Elizabeth at the Garden Window:

Elizabeth (me) Kathismas 1, 7, 13, 19 A

Pres. Kathy Kathismas 2, 8, 14, 19 B

Margaret Kathismas 3, 9, 15, 19 C

MamaJuliana Kathismas 4, 10, 16, 20 A

Elizabeth at the Garden Window Kathismas 5, 11, 17, 20 B

TeresaAngelina Kathismas 6, 12, 18 20 C

Each Kathisma has 3 sections (I have called these A, B and C).

To do it evenly with 6 I have given the last two Kathismas

in three sections.

Any questions,

please let me know.

I will not be adding anyone else in blog post,

so if you want to join,

just pick one of our names and do that set with the person listed!

Feel free to comment if you join.

Again,

any and all prayer is great

and if you cannot join in this particular prayers,

be at peace.

May the Lord bless us as we seek to pray for Resa.

***

Memory Eternal!

May the Lord remember the handmaiden of God Resa

in His kingdom

where there is repose, no more illness or weeping.

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Praying the Psalter for Resa

Right now there are four of us total who are able to pray the Psalter.

That's great.

Since there are 20 Kathismas,

We can split them over 5 days.

I have done the first Kathisma,

so if...

Pres. Kathy could pray Kathismas 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 over the next 5 days.

Margaret can do Kathismas 3, 7, 11, 15, 19 over the next 5 days

MamaJuliana Kathismas 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 over the next 5 days

Myself - Kathismas 1, 5, 9, 13, 17 over the next 5 days

If this is too much,

let me know.

(Don't be shy!)

We can always pray the Psalter over a longer period of time.

Also if there is anything more you need to know

about praying the Psalter*,

just leave a comment!

***

If you are reading this and know that you wish to pray a Psalm

but are not able to do a Kathisma,

here are some special ones you could pray.

Here are some that are especially appropriate:

Psalm 23, 91, 116, 119/22, 90, 115, 118

Praying any of these would be wonderful.

(Please feel free to comment and tell me which ones you love

when praying for our beloved departed)

***

Does this sound doable to everyone?

If more wish to pray, feel free to leave a comment.

If this works, the 5 days of prayer through the Psalter,

this week for Resa, then

so if more wish to join, just pick one of our sections

and pray those kathismas.

***

May the Memory of Resa be Eternal!

***

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

***

*I can only tell you what my Psalter says;

I am young in the faith and am still learning...

Psalter

Elizabeth asked if we can pray the Psalter for Resa.

This is a very normal and appropriate thing

to do for grief.

Often in Orthodox churches the Psalter is read

overnight in Vigil with the beloved whose body rests

now in the Church.

***

There are 20 Kathismas in the Orthodox Psalter.

I will do the first Kathisma today;

if you want to join in, perhaps leave a comment

with which Kathisma you wish to do

(going in order would be best).

If you do not have a printed copy of the Psalter

it can be found online

here.

Once I see how many are interested in doing this,

I will be able to ascertain how many people we need

to pray the Psalter in it's entirety.

***

With all things,

please do not forsake your personal prayer rule.

If you feel you are able to join,

you are most welcome.

But please do not feel sad if you know you are not able to.

***

May the memory of Resa be eternal!

Blessed are those who you have taken O Lord!

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy

Memory Eternal

Resa has departed this life today.

Pray for her family

and for her...

Please also pray for my friend

who just lost Resa,

who she loved very much.