Mary and Martha

Did I tell you about my skin condition, yet? I forget. The doctor says it's not contagious and that it could just 'pop up' anywhere - even on my nose. Well, it's not only been 'popping up', it's been 'popping up' everywhere simultaneously. It starts as a small, round, red splotch, which may or may not be itchy, but is usually tender. It then grows at an alarming rate, becoming swollen and painful. Usually, by the time it begins healing, it's huge. The first time it happened, the ER (cuz I was freaking out) diagnosed me with cellulitis and gave me a massive dose of steroids and it was gone in two days. The second time it happened, I went to my regular doctor, who diagnosed it as something completely different and said that it'll appear every now and then and I just have to live with it. But he did add that if it begins happening frequently, to come back and see him. Well, it's happening frequently, doc. In the past week it's shown up ...

Oh my gosh, *whew* What a relief. I got the job. I'm so thankful to God. This job is pretty much perfect for us. It comes at a time when we've been having some money issues above and beyond what I mentioned before. Both of our cars need parts replaced; EJ's car may be beyond repair and we might have to live as a single-car family for awhile. BUT, that's okay now, because this job is right across the street from our apartment. I can just walk there, rain or shine. God is so good and knows what we need. Seriously, I just can't say enough how the Lord has been so faithful through this whole ordeal. No matter what's happened so far, Jesus has provided for us so we haven't gone a penny deeper into debt and we even have a little left over. Sorry, I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging or showing off, I just can't keep in my gratefulness to the Lord. ~Bless!~

Why is it necessary for the priest to give even the announcements in Greek and then English? Our parish is currently transitioning priests, and the new one is of the Greek tradition. I realize there's an ethnic flavor to every Orthodox Church currently in America and I don't think anyone minds a little ethnic spice here and there, but, really, even the announcements ? We have quite a few Russian/Ukrainian/Bulgarian members, as well. What about them? What about the lone Egyptian woman? Or those who speak no language but English? Why with all the Greek? Should I not be questioning this? Is it disrespectful? I don't mean to be, but, honestly, I feel kind of disrespect ed, being relegated to the secondary church language in my own country... EDIT: Then again, I could have been raised a Russian on Old Church Slavonic. Maybe I should consider myself lucky I can understand the Liturgy at all...

This article, posted by Father Stephen, has inspired me to modify my prayer to St. Sophia and her daughters, Faith, Love, and Hope. I normally ask that I not despair when I hear of all the stupid, illegal, and evil things our government does to its people (especially if it may impact my relationship with my future children), now I'm going to ask her to pray that I rejoice no matter what I hear or experience. Always rejoice!

Hopefully. I finished the last class of what I hope will be my last college course ever. The only problem is that I've been down this road before, so, until Hillsdale excepts the transfer, I won't hold my breath. Let me say, I'm much more appreciative of Hillsdale after taking this course. It has deepened my understanding of just how insidious the liberal academic mindset can be and how powerless students are to change things if they're dependent upon their teachers "liking them" to pass the class. Tonight was particularly hard, as my professor went on and on about feminism and imperialism and railed against western civilization for thinking they're better than everyone else. I just sat there and took it - and got heartburn in the process - while he extolled the work of Betty Frieden, calling the home a place of empty depression and heartache (sadly, I was the only one in the class who seemed to know anything about The Feminine Mystique ). At least I didn...

I just figured out how to clean my electric stove !!! Okay, okay, bear with me. I've lived in this apartment for almost 8 months now and I've never cleaned under the electric coils of my stove. For serious. I thought it couldn't be done. I grew up with gas stoves and really thought that there was no good way to effectively clean under those darn coils; that the electric coil stove was the worse invention since ... well ... I don't even know. So today, I finally grew a brain and decided to google it (only took me seven months, right?). Voila! Up pops this article and my world is suddenly so much cleaner! I hadn't a clue that the coils or the drip pans could be removed. Hahaha. My stress level just went down another notch. =D