Busy, busy, busy...

Lent so far seems to be progressing well... I'm doing okay at keeping to my resolutions, with the exception of the spiritual reading. It's no excuse certainly, but I have so much to do between school and work that it's hard to get it done on a daily basis. I find that I'm doing more doubling up to make up for missing a day, but I suspect that cramming a bunch of spiritual literature in my head is kind of defeating the purpose, as then I have too much to meditate on.

Hmm... I wonder if reading Fr. Z's Blog will count towards spiritual reading, as I seem to read at least one of his articles everyday?

Haha, just kidding! :p

Last night I sang for the General Recital at school. I sang three of the songs from Fernando Obradors' Canciones clasicas espanolas. It was good practice for my recital on Sunday, in which I'll be singing the whole cycle. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to record the recital, so that I can post some of the music here. :)

And speaking of said recital, I must go now and work on memorizing the recitative that comes before Batti, Batti (Mozart's Don Giovanni).

Ma se colpa io non ho...

PS- Go check out the latest post at Seraphic's Blog -Taxonomy of Trids-. It's hysterically funny!!

Feeling like George Bailey...

The response to my rushed prayer request last week has been tremendous, and I have to thank you all so much for your prayers and sacrifices on my father's behalf. I know things wouldn't have gone half so well had it not been for the power of prayer.

To recap the insanity of the last six days:

Early last week, my Dad was having severe back pain that he was attributing to the compressed discs he has in his spine. However, on Tuesday the pain went away and suddenly his left leg was numb from the knee down. His doctor, becoming concerned, sent him for an MRI.

Wednesday afternoon, the doctor called a few hours after the MRI had been taken and asked my parents to come back to his office. On the MRI they found two tumors on my dad's spinal column. Thank goodness, the doctor immediately got them an appointment with the top neurosurgeon at Penn Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.

At this point, I had sent out my initial prayer request as well as posting on Facebook and emailing the members of our parish. The phone calls and emails and text messages immediately started pouring in. Our pastor immediately organized an Forty Hours' Devotion, friends came to watch the small children so that my sister and I could travel to Philadelphia to be with our parents, hundreds of rosaries were offered by people around the world, Masses were said by many priests, my teachers and colleagues took over my students and excused me from classes, and everyone just generally went out of their way to make this difficult time as easy as they could for us.

Thursday morning, my parents made it to Philadelphia, and had their appointment with the doctor, which they assumed was just a consultation. The neurosurgeon said that my Dad had to go in for immediate surgery in order to prevent any other nerve damage.

Friday morning, my Dad went in for surgery. My sister and I raced to Philadelphia to be with my mother, who was taking all of this very hard. The last time I spoke to Dad before the surgery, he told me that I had to be strong for Mom. He was fine and we weren't to worry about him, but we had to help Mom keep it together.

Dad was in surgery for 15 hours. It was the longest day of my life.

Friday night, after he got out, we were permitted to see him in the ICU ward. He was awake and lucid and already joking around. When we told him about all of the prayers and help, he was very touched (one of the few times I'm seen him teary eyed) and he said that he felt like George Bailey, and that he hoped he deserved it.

Although they caused nerve damage and filled his spinal cavity, the tumors were not cancerous, which was the biggest concern. They weren't able to remove all of the tumor, because some of it was on nerves that were too dangerous to touch, but the neurosurgeon assured us that they were able to remove 90 or more percent of it.

Saturday, Dad was required to lay on his back for 24 hours, but he was awake, and they already had him eating regular food again. Sunday morning, they had him up on his feet and walking around. The speed of his recovery is really amazing!

Dad still has no feeling in his left leg, and the paralysis has moved up to his hip. He's going to have a limp and probably have to use a cane, but we're all so happy that that's the only negative outcome of this ordeal.

We just got the results of his full spinal MRI and there isn't any sign of tumors anywhere else, which is making us all deliriously happy. I'm confident that things only have gone so well because of everyone's prayers and kindness!

Dad will be released to go home tomorrow afternoon, and I think he'll be more than happy to be home. Already, he's on the phone- business as usual!

We feel so incredibly blessed, and my Dad thanks everyone from the bottom of his heart.

God has been very good to us and the power of the Rosary has triumphed!

Thank you all again, so very much!!!

----

Here are some photos from Philadelphia. My sister and I coaxed my mom out of the hospital for a bit to try and help her take her mind off of things:

The inscription from the cornerstone of Pennsylvania Hospital. I find it kind of ironic that Benjamin Franklin is who wrote this, especially considering the first, third, and fourth lines.

City Hall- Philadelphia, PA

The beautiful Bed & Breakfast in which we stayed. It was 1/2 a block from the hospital and the innkeeper, Kathy, was so incredibly helpful and compassionate.

My cocktail at lunch to help clear up my laryngitis. LOL.

When we stepped out for Mass on Sunday morning- Check out St. Paul's Parish in Philadelphia, PA! The church is lovely and the priest says a beautiful Latin Mass!- we saw this nice old Corvette on our way. We took pictures to show Dad, although I think Mom wants it more than he does! ;)

Ritz-Carlton, Downtown Philadelphia

A bit of nerdiness on my part- Darth Vader helmet in the window of a very awesome comic book shop. :D

They had Boba Fett, too! I would have taken a pic of the TIE Fighter Pilot helmet, but my battery went dead.

And finally, but most importantly, my Dad (love him SO much), as of this afternoon (only three days after major surgery!) He's already back to work!!

Of Blogging and Music...

Well, I have an awesome topic upon which to blog, but I must hold it in reserve for now, as I'm waiting to hear back from the person who has inspired the post. I would like their permission to write about said topic, as the intellectual property is theirs and not mine. So, for now, I must wait.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with another recording of our choir, which is quite lovely. It's Palestrina's Sicut Cervus, and again I will note that our full choir was not present for the session and the recording has not been altered at all. Husband and I are both on this recording, I singing the soprano line with our choir director, and Husband singing the bass part with another of the schola members. I will note that the tenor and alto lines are performed by a father and his daughter (who is only 14!!), and I think the similarities in their voices has done wonderful things for the blend of our little choir. As one choir member so aptly said, the recording "sounds like you're floating on a cloud."

Also, for anyone interested, one of the stories I was working on over the summer (another SW fan fiction) has been posted online. This one was tricky because I was inspired to write in 3rd person present tense, which brings with it all sorts of interesting complications when writing. (Oh Muse, why must you be so difficult??) Overall, I must say that I enjoyed the voicing of the piece, and I'm working on finishing the second part in my free time. Let me know what you think either here or in the thread! Permanent- http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/31285873/p1/

That's all for now, but hopefully I'll hear back from my contact later today and have the other post up by tomorrow afternoon!

Sicut-Cervus-MP3.mp3

Text to the Sicut Cervus-

Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus.

As a deer longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.

(From Psalm 42)

Last Day of AugBlogWriMo!!

Today's the day... August 31st.

It has been quite a crazy month, and I must say that I'm pleased with how frequently I was able to blog. Granted, daily didn't quite happen, but I got pretty close, which makes me excessively happy.

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but there are a few truly legitimate reasons for that. First off, it was the first day of classes, and my schedule was quite full. Secondly, Husband's grandmother, Tina, passed away yesterday afternoon.

Thanks be to God, she received the Last Rites and was wearing the Brown Scapular at the time of her death. Husband was there with her in her last moments.

Husband and I would like to ask for your prayers for the repose of her soul.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and may the perpetual light shine upon her. May she, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Time to Catch Up...

... on my progress through Dickens' Great Expectations. I haven't blogged about it since the beginning of the month, and I feel very remiss, especially after reading a little snippet in Seraphic's Blog Seraphic Singles. (Yes, I know her blog is directed at singles, but she has so much practical advice on how to deal with men, which I need desperately at times. And I do read her 'married' blog as well. Anyway...) In the snippet, Seraphic says:

"My personal feeling is that blogs are a great way to meet likeminded people and make friends. The trick is that your blog should be about something that you are passionate about (and not just about you)."

It got me to thinking, and I realised that my blog is mainly about me and that's most likely what is making it hard for me to blog everyday. I need to write about what I'm passionate about- the Catholic Faith, books, films, music. Perhaps, then it will be easier to keep this up (and not so boring for my readers).

So, to keep in step with this resolution, let's take a look at some Dickens, shall we?

CHAPTER III

Poor Pip.

That's really all I can say. He's gotten himself into quite a quandary and he feels absolutely terrible about it. He's been practically forced to steal from his sister, and the guilt is nearly driving him mad. Then, on top of it, he runs into another convict, which scares him half to death. He finally meets up with the right convict, gives him the food, and then gets frightened again when this convict almost throttles him for seeing the other convict.

It's quite confusing at this point, because no one has any names. It's just 'the man' and 'the young man.' And poor Pip.

I must say I'm enjoying the various accents, thus far...

CHAPTER IV

Here we have a full chapter of Pip on pins and needles, and on Christmas, too! He's so worried that Mrs. Joe will find out that he's taken things from the pantry, that he can hardly enjoy what should be one of the most joyous days of the year.

I'm starting to be fascinated with the extreme sense of guilt that Pip is carrying on his slim, young shoulders. Mrs. Joe is constantly making the poor boy feel unworthy and unfit to live. Pip remarks:

"I was always treated as if I had insisted on being born in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality, and against the dissuading arguments of my best friends."

And yet, for all her preaching and penance-giving, it's Mrs. Joe who doesn't go to church on Christmas Day because she's too busy preparing for the guests coming later. Hasn't she ever heard the Gospel about Martha and Mary?

During the dinner, Pip has no repose from his guilt, because Mrs. Joe insists upon making him the subject of ridicule in front of the guests, who take up her habit and berate Pip, too! If Dickens was trying to instill a sense of pity for Pip in his reader, he has certainly succeeded! By the end of the chapter, I wanted nothing more than to whisk the poor child away from his sister and the Wopsles and Uncle Pumblechook. Only Joe had any sense of how to act decently towards Pip. Unfortunately, he isn't much better off than Pip himself, as Mrs. Joe treats him with very little respect.

The woman is a Pharisee, I tell you...

Oh, and I laughed with wicked delight when Pumblechook drank the Tar-water... I just wish it had been Mrs. Joe. But I suppose those are uncharitable thoughts, even if they're towards a fictional character.

---

There is more to follow, as I've read up to chapter eleven, and I shall post again shortly. For now I am wondering briefly if a certain Scottish gentleman will be sharing his thoughts with me about the book, as we had promised to read it in a book-club fashion, and compare notes as we made our way through the novel. Hmm...

Small Word of Great Consequence

I couldn't think of anything to blog about all day, but I was determined to blog about something because I no longer have any (legitimate) excuses not to follow through with my AugBlogWriMo. Opera is finished, work is (slightly) less crazy, and school hasn't started yet. So, that means technically I have all the time in the world to write a blog post every day.

Yeah, right.

I spent most of my free time today reading other people's blogs (and listening to the awesome new music my sister home shared with me...), and wondering how it is that so many of them manage to blog on a regular, if not daily, basis. Granted, there is the occasional blog that is withering like a dehydrated cactus in the desert of writer's block (or perfectionism, or whatever).

Occasionally, you even find a dead blog. Maybe I'm morbid, but I find those dead blogs kind of funny. I mean, it's so ironic when you read the last posts on those poor deceased blogs, before they wandered into the expansive deserts of inactivity, and finally collapsed and expired in the sweltering heat of Real Life. Nine times out of ten, those last posts are a final cry of 'I promise to blog here more often if...'

Ah ha! And there's the culprit!

IF...

It's the IF that does them in, I'm sure! As soon as you let IF in- that tiny little word of indecision- you are doomed! IF is the first step on the road into that lonely wilderness filled with dead blogs. IF is the beginning of the end of all will-power and fortitude.  IF has been known to reduce mighty fortresses to rubble, to turn a brilliant plan into a ridiculously stupid idea, to...

Well, you get the idea.

I almost wish someone would post a sign outside of the place where IF dwells. It should say something foreboding, almost Vader-like in it's terrifying-ness. It should be painted in bold red letters, and put where you can't miss it...

"WARNING! Do NOT enter here! Turn back now IF you value your Blog!"

Okay, okay... I know I used the Word-That-Must-Not-Be-Named, but I couldn't help it! It fit so perfectly!

But I promise not to become one of those dried-out, abandoned skeletons of a Blog-That-Was. I will continue to be a Blog-That-Is. Come hell or high water.

Now, IF only I could find something to write about...

EDIT: Because I couldn't spell desert properly... I blame the ice cream I was eating...