New Calendar St. Nicholas Day - with a kind window's tale

So.
I went to New York City
again today.
And...
it was a really good day.
Thankfully I did not have to go
 walking about the city much.
That did help.
*
The goal
other than to have a quick lunch with
the gallant Mr. Husband,
was to find something nice
pretty and modest
for my first Christmas party
with Mr. Husband for his work.
*
So I went into a store that was recommend to me
and found the 4th floor dresses.
The first and second floor I was greeted by sales staff
but by the 4th it seemed no one was there.
It took a bit of time
but I finally found what I deemed some good options.
But not before I felt a bit utterly forlorn,
tired, hot and a bit frustrated.
But then I remembered that it was
new calendar
St. Nicholas Day
so I asked for help.
Admitted that I needed a nice outfit for
Mr. Husband's Christmas party
and that though it was not a
dire request at any rate
whatsoever
I could really use the help.
I was missing friends and family who often
would help me look
or even a sales clerk!
But after I prayed I felt encouraged
and then found the better options
and tried the first one on.
*
I really liked it.
And then the story got sweeter.
I was trying to get to a proper mirror to see
if the clothes fit properly on me.
When an older women
with a kind face and a proper nice NYC
type haircut and makeup
came up to me and said
she never usually talks to others
but really liked the outfit I was trying on.
Said it fit me well and
that I would get lots of compliments.
She asked what it was for
and so I said it was for my
husband's Christmas party
and she said,
oh, I used to go to these when my husband was alive
and wear outfits like this,
those were such nice times.
And then she advised me on jewelry and
it was so nice and kind
and reminded me of what a blessing I have
in Mr. Husband.
So I felt like St. Nicholas not only helped me
find an outfit
a very small thing
but even more brought someone kind to help me
and reassure me without me even asking
that what I had found was good.
So in the middle of NYC
I was blessed with the kindness of a stranger!
*
Here's pictures of what I found,
for those who are interested in these sorts of things...

The black skirt is ankle length
and fits me wonderfully.

The red shirt is really nice and modest
and still pretty.

With shiny flower buttons :)

That match my necklace

and earrings
that I bought years ago in Ottawa
for special events...

So that was great.
I felt relieved, happy and blessed!
*
Then I had time to browse in stores.

Here's the 12 Days of Christmas
China dish set
in one of the stores.
Lovely hey?!

I love seeing pretty dishes!

And little English Christmas party treats...

Also found some of my favourite drink
in NYC... it's made in Taiwan and
has Aloe in it...

 

Mr. Husband and I took the bus home
and I am thankful for this day.
I am also thankful for the friends
that I texted while going to and in NYC.
*
Blessed St. Nicholas day to everyone
celebrating this wonderful day today!

Wonderful Happy Day

Today I woke up and it was sunny.
I put on my new favourite long brown
summer skirt and favourite pink shirt and
sparkly earrings
as today some of my closest Ottawa
women friends had a bridal shower/party
for me.
As I walked over just before 11 AM
I felt like I must be one of the luckiest women in the world.



Wonderful cup cakes.

Wonderful yummy cake.

Love these three tiered tea trays.

 

Little Russian dolls.

They had beautiful flowers everywhere.

Yummy food, a beautiful brunch.

Cute little breads.

Fruits.

Some very thoughtful gifts.

 

My sister-friend took pictures of me
holding her youngest,
my godson.
*
Great conversations, advice given and sometimes
it is just wonderful to have time with other women...
*
I felt so blessed!

Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt - Lent is going by so quickly

I am so glad I re-read the
life of St. Mary this past week.
I found it really consoling.
Especially how she talks about struggling
so greatly in the desert.
A lot of our struggle comes from
battling fear and wrong thoughts
and St. Mary's prayers can really help us.



I ended up making my
vegan chocolate cake this past
weekend twice for church.
Eaten up both times :)

  

Was so good to be in church today.

 

Cleo is glad to have my home tonight.
I am finally getting caught up on dishes
the never ending dishes.
*
The cater and I rescheduled for late Friday morning
this week to meet.
I feel relieved about this.
*
Orthoman comes in 1.5 weeks!
God willing my sister-friend and family
are going to come to presanctified liturgy
this Friday with me;
this is very beautiful for me.
I feel like we just got through a hard month
and that God willing
it will get a bit better and then Pascha.
Though we NEED to be vigilant.
The last week of Lent and Holy Week
can have temptations and sorrows.
May God help and protect us.

Nearing Christmas

I had a library school friend visit

me this week;

it was really nice to see her again

and spend time with her.

We took various walks and had a nice lunch together yesterday.

The picture above is a bit of the cheer I saw on our last walk.

I went to the grocery store with her and

she noticed the really great sale on

these oranges and I bought some other things

plus these oranges

and she carried the oranges back for me.

They taste really great.

I've gotten some Christmas

plus one birthday card

so far and it brings a lot of cheer to me.

I have not been able to do cards yet

with everything happening with my Oma

and then recovering from that.

But I am hoping to get to some today.

I've gotten cards from some faithful friends

throughout the years and

never have been able to return

their blessings of cards with one from me.

I hope to do better this year,

even if it does miss new calendar Christmas!

*

I am thankful that on Christmas Eve

new calendar

that I can go to my friends church for a vigil

with some special icons.

This is the first (and I pray only) Christmas I

have had away from my family.

My good friend who is like a sister to me

whose third child I am the godmother to

is having me over for their families'

Christmas dinner

so that is a real blessing.

I did start the fast early so I can have a

western Christmas meal

and I am so glad I get one with such

dear friends.

I truly have a lot to be thankful for.

New Week ... Monday is almost over already

Recovering from the wonderful weekend.

Thinking of my godchild a lot.

Realized I should clarify one point -

and this may explain why the first communion was

so special for me.

There are lots of Orthodox churches in Ottawa

and my dear friends,

the parents of my godson,

who I have known for many many years,

go to another Orthodox church,

so that was the only Sunday liturgy that I will be taking

my godson too.

I am so grateful for the honour of taking him to his

first communion.

I was gone a lot of the weekend for the baptism

and had an appointment this morning;

this afternoon has been lots of catch up and clean up.

*

Today is the feast of Archangel Micheal and Gabriel and

this is a great comfort for me.

*

I am going to two good friend's house tonight

and am making apple crisp to bake

while we eat dinner

for dessert.

I found out today that I will not be eligible

for employment insurance

because I was unemployed and then viewed as

self-employed over the past two years.

While I have enough for now and the next few months,

this was still really disappointing to learn.

It feels a little scary

and quite unfair... but... I must remember to be

thankful.

*

All things

require a lot of trust in God as

December I am going home to see my sister

(cost too much to change the plane ticket and she is not there for

Christmas)

from Dec 3-12 and then soon after that is

new calendar Christmas and really

not many people in Ottawa will be hiring then.

I don't think my job search will really take off until January,

though I am going to do a lot of work for the rest of this week

and also in December before the holidays.

Next week Tuesday-Wednesday I already am going to Brampton

to see my family and Oma

and Saturday I fly home.

Other life things that I can't blog about

are taking a lot of energy at present

so lots of apathia and trust in God

are needed.

Lots of learning to live in the present and trust

that God knows everything and is orchestrating

all events for my salvation,

and is taking good care of me.

Truly,

our Lord is good to us.

Sunday, the day of starting anew

This photo cracks me up.

Cleo was a bit out of sorts :)

She's doing fine now.

Do you see the Canadian Flag? :)

This is my walk on my way to the library...

Liturgy was good as always.

I am very blessed.

Later today a friend gave me these

tealight candles from IKEA.

Such a thoughtful and practical gift.

I am doing all I can to recover from the exhaustion

of this past week.

I found a job add to apply for.

One step at a time...

The Lord is with us.

Downtown...

I was at a friend's house the other night

and her over 1 year old transformed

into a little man overnight.

So cute.

I could see him using more of his older brother's

expressions both on his face and verbally.

And I read him a story for the first time...

one of them was about a town ... one of the Richard Scary books;

soon I was singing to him,

downtown, I wantta live downtown...

it was real cute as I can walk to my friend's house in

no more than 30 minutes

but her boy does not know what town really means

so he was convinced that we did not live in the same town :)

*

For years I had a really good black carry on suitcase

that I took everywhere with me,

as I lived on my own since 2001/2 and got my groceries in it.

By library school it was already showing a lot of use

and one of my classmates demanded I name it.

So I called it 'old faithful'

and used it for many years.

Well.

Sniff.

I finally had to say goodbye to my 'old faithful'

that had sounded by the end almost as bad as a car

without a muffler.

But I missed having a way to transport groceries;

I had been carrying them mostly but

sometimes it gets a bit heavy.

So, the search was on.

But first came Pascha and I got a new basket

and put cookies in it to be blessed and handed out to all the kids

(and adults!)

Here's where my basket lives now:

It's on top of my microwave as it was the only

place I had left for it!

But it is a beautiful basket and I figure it is good

to have reminders of Pascha year round.

I carried my roses on Good Friday for the shroud

and it felt so beautiful to have a basket of roses for

my Saviour...

I am blessed as even the roses I got were at a discount

and they were beautiful real long stem red roses

fragrant, stemmed with leaves and ferns...

*

For my Pascha party I was getting some really heavy items

so I broke down and bought this cart:

Sad to say it did not suffice.

The tips off the top fell off before I got home

the day I bought it!

And it was too short and so was really uncomfortable to push.

I kept thinking about collection development

in libraries; my teacher in library school said

everyone makes a few collection development

mistakes, items - books, DVDs, etc,

that just don't get the use they should.

Well thankfully my super cool grocery store,

where I bought it from,

let me return it that very day and I was refunded

the money I used buying it.

*

Last week, admittedly when I had felt excited about a real

job prospect,

I got this new red cart:

It cost 23.00 total Canadian

and I had talked to various people using them downtown

who recommended them.

So far, I am loving it!

Great handle height, good wheels (the other carts wheels

were so wobbly that it was actually hard to use),

and it's red! :)

Here's to hoping that I get another job soon

so I can not worry about 'extra' purchases like this one...

*

Meanwhile,

another Cleo picture.

My friend said Cleo looked older and I fear

it is true.

Though I can't always see it, I think somehow she is not always as

fluffy as she was around the face.

Anyway.

She still acts the same, which is great.

Including sudden appearances at the dinner table when I put my

dinner down to eat and turn around to get a glass of water...

so here she is, the famous meal sniffer/stealer

Cleo my Canadian Cute

Caught-sitting-on-my-couch-on-top-of-my-clean-laundry

again

Cat.

I kinda like her :)

Friday - St. George Day

Keeping a candle lit for a dear friend's

father who is very ill overseas.

St. Necktarios is a healer and I pray that his

intercessions will comfort my friend and

her family during this time.
*

Today (old calendar) is

St. George's Day.

The icon below is one my beloved St. George icons;

it is the one that a few lents ago was in

the Altar of my church for all of lent.

That was such a blessing;

I loved seeing him there,

leaning against the window.

I felt so protected that lent,

knowing he was there.

*

Now this icon is home with me

and since it was his day,

I put this icon out on display,

even though my big icon of him

has a lampada by it.

St. George is such a beloved Saint!

*

I went to friends' church for a service

to St. George

and then had the friends over for dinner

after!

We had a simple tomato-vegetable soup,

yummy bread,

a salad and some fried potatoes.

And various fun desserts.

A wonderful way to celebrate

the feast day of St. George!

Blessed Feast Day!

Sundays...the best days...

I have various social events after

Thursday's interview...

Many more flower pictures to put here!

This picture was on a walk

with some of my really good friends...

Fountains in a small park by City Hall...

*

This week is going to be about...

*French test studying

*Cooking and Eating more vegetables (kinda failed at that today)

*Social times

(I have to be sure to balance myself as if I have too many days with

little interaction, I don't do as well).

*A, I hope it works as planned, trip to the Greek monastery this

Friday

*

I am really going to have to plan carefully to be doing as much French

studying as possible...

It is not easy for me to do,

so I will really have to work on being disciplined about it...

**

This week Thursday (the 1st) is Canada Day;

I hope to be picnicking with some friends

and maybe seeing fireworks from somewhere...

Tons of people come to Ottawa for Canada Day since

Ottawa is the Capital;

so seeing fireworks is not something easy to do

with all the crowds...

***

What do you have planned for this week?