Mary and Martha

EDIT: This post was originally written way back in 2013. I recently went through all of my old posts and deleted more than half. I kept this and edited it a bit, just to clean up some typos and rearrange a few words to improve flow. I didn't realize doing so would make it now appear as though I published it in 2018. So, yeah. That happened. (The usual disclaimers for males apply: there is some female/birth-specific yuckiness in this post. Do not continue if that grosses you out.) Yes, yes, I know, here I am jumping on the Birth Story bandwagon. Honestly, though, I want to encourage (and disabuse) other first time mothers who, like me, knew exactly what they are going to do when the time came to give birth and how they were going to handle a newborn baby. Let me just say that reality has a funny way of bursting your idealistic bubble. To begin, I knew that, this being my first birth, I was going to be in labor for at least 22 hours (why 22 and not 23 or 21, I don't know)...

Remember that second house we went to see? The one built in 1972? Well, my parents bought it and EJ and I have been living in it since March. =) Unfortunately, there were a number of problems with the house not readily apparent when they signed the papers; nearly everything major has had to be replaced: boiler, plumbing, well, septic. The selling agent, we later found out, knew about all of them but didn't say a word. Unfortunately, except for the septic tank needing replaced, we have no concrete proof that would stand up in a court of law - and, even if we did, I'm not sure if it'd be worth it to take him there. Sometimes it's better to just move on. After all, I still love the house. We've had fun remodeling and redecorating everything and it's really starting to feel like home. I'm THIS close to opening a daycare and goodness knows we could use the money. Jack is a little monkey who gets into everything and has a sparkling, mischievous smile. He...

Heaven help us, Jack can scoot. ~~~~ The house deal fell through. Surprisingly, I felt completely at peace when I heard the news. All along God had been sending us clues that this wasn't going to happen, but we ignored them. So, when the appraisal came through $29,000 below their absolute lowest acceptable price, it was simply the culmination of what we all already suspected. Thus, I let it go without a tear. We went and saw another house today. It was built in 1972 and I don't think the homeowners have done anything with it since. The place was a time capsule. And I loved it. Seriously, they maintained  the place beautifully. Wallpaper can be removed, rotten window sills, however, are a different story altogether. Thankfully, there was nothing like that at this place. Dad liked the property as well, so I think we're going to go for it. If it's not meant to be, I've been praying God would stop us in our tracks again, but, if it is, I pray He smooths the way fo...

Jack slept through the night!!!! Woohoo!! That's two nights in a row now, which gives me hope it's not just a fluke. Oh my goodness, five and a half months without a single full night's sleep and now suddenly, BAM, eight hours of uninterrupted sleepy goodness. He's also falling asleep like a champ. I don't even have to rock him anymore. Letting him cry it out, while hard for us both, has worked wonders. I just take him upstairs, turn on his lullabies, and lay him in his crib. A few minutes of quiet fussing, then silence. This is wonderful. Simply wonderful. He's making up for it, though, by being extra clingy during the day. Actually, it began exactly after he slept through the night the first time (meaning it started yesterday). He doesn't want to be put down. He doesn't want to be in the Boba, front or back (although front is better than back when I'm desperate), he wants to be held in my arms so he can look and move and reach and grab and heav...

Has it been five months already? What happened to that small, seven-pound blob who came home from the hospital? Where did this wriggly, happy, long baby come from? Jack just cut his two bottom front teeth. He still doesn't roll over (he's done it twice by accident, but he just can't figure out how to move that arm out of the way). He's finally gotten some blond fuzz on the top of his (adorable) head, but, to most people, he's simply bald. He has blueberry eyes. Seriously, his irises are the color of blueberries! He's learning to sit on his own. He has the cutest smile and he gives his smiles away so easily. Such a happy baby. EJ's set to come back at the end of November. I can't wait! The house project is moving forward. Things are looking a bit more certain, though I have to keep in mind that it could still all go up in smoke at any moment. That's the price you pay for buying a "For Sale by Owner" property. Pinterest is electronic c...

Two days ago, one of my closest friends found out her 25-week-old unborn baby had passed away. Yesterday, with her husband beside the bed, she delivered his body and named him Jonathan. When I and a few other people close to them went to visit and conduct a small prayer ceremony, they let us see him. Jonathan looked like a small, wrinkled doll, with his mother's lips and his father's nose, fingers perfectly formed (and incredibly tiny fingernails), and arms thinner than pencils. He was beautiful. They'll go on to have many more children, but we will never forget their firstborn, their little saint, who is now in Heaven, watching over and praying for them.

I know I'm a month and a half late, but baby Jack is finally here! Weighing in at a healthy 7lbs 8oz and 19 1/2 inches long, he was born at 3:01am on April 2nd. The first month left me kind of shell-shocked, but I'm beginning to peek cautiously over the edge and look about me again. He's already so big (13lbs as of yesterday)! He just started smiling and even laughing a little and he's so alert now. It just melts my heart to see him smile when he sees me. =3

I am so ready to get this baby out of me.

I'm finally out of North Carolina. I moved back home to Michigan around Christmas (take my word for it, never move around the holidays), EJ's back in NC waiting to deploy, and I'm just trying to reconnect with my old friends before I no longer have any time for myself. One of them hosts a weekly Yarn Group in her home, which I'm attending tonight. Seriously, I still have Christmas scarves that need to be finished. This'll be great. (^_^) Despite being home for almost a month, I haven't had that many opportunities to attend the local Orthodox church in town. Today was only my second time and it was the first time I could actually stay and chat with people. The Presvytera was so funny. I didn't recognize her accent, I'm assuming Greek, and she latched onto me as soon as she saw a new face and began introducing me to people left and right. "This is Maria! This is Janie! This is Michelle! This is Janie's husband! North Carolina is too hot and humid...

I've been trying to write more in my paper journal in order to train myself to not put so much out there on the internet (Facebook, mostly), plus, EJ bought me a wicked cool journal from Barnes&Noble and I want to hurry up and finish my current one so I can begin to use it! Oh, hey, I'M PREGNANT. Finally! EJ and I have been trying for about 16 months and it finally happened! I'd actually had my first appointment with an infertility doctor about two weeks before I took the test. Funny how God works. (^_^) I've been extremely fortunate to not experience any nausea so far. In fact, if I hadn't taken confirmed it with a doctor, I'd have a hard time even believing I was pregnant. I certainly don't feel so!

My kitchen is actually clean... I keep looking over at it disbelievingly. Is it real? Are the countertops really clear? The dishes all washed and put away? The floor really swept? Even my adjacent living room looks somewhat put together. Which stars aligned to create this happiness? Alas, EJ doesn't work today; it shall not last...

I know the good folks in Maryland and Washington D.C. might like for nothing better than to see the white stuff go, but down where I am, it never snows - and especially not 5 1/2" deep!! When I saw the snow coming down last night, I almost cried, it reminded me so much of home. Not content to simply watch it out of the window, either, I put on my flimsy shoes and walked around the entire apartment complex just to experience it. Ah, what a glorious night. But we're probably going to have zero customers at the sub shop today. lol. I may very well be bored out of my mind. (>.

So I went to my family doctor Tuesday to get a referral for an immunologist. To say he wasn't too happy to see me would be an understatement. Before he even came into the room, he stood right outside the door (or so it seemed) and complained about how I'd waited to make a follow-up appointment to my ER visit until almost a month afterward (if he'd bothered to ask, that was due to some confusion on my part). When he did come in, he listened to my request and then basically tried to talk me out of seeking more treatment for my disease. "There's nothing that can be done," he kept saying, "that's all the immunologist will tell you, too." When I mentioned that there were three drugs out there (well, one will be coming out, soon) to treat the symptoms, he then tried to talk me out of using them "because many drugs have side effects worse then the disease." Umm, excuse me? This condition could kill me within the day and you're worried abou...

What has been one of the hardest things for me to understand on my journey to Orthodoxy is the difference between being a fallen being and having a fallen nature. In my protestant incarnation, I was raised to believe that humans are essentially evil, our natures are corrupted, and we can never hope to approach perfection. Orthodoxy, on the other hand, rejects that belief. Instead of butchering things by explaining it myself (because this concept seems to still be eluding my me on a basic level), I'll let the ever-wise Father Stephen take it away: A Nature that is Less than Obvious

When I joined the Church, in keeping with tradition, I took a new name: Monica. I've now changed my Blogger user name to reflect this. I chose Monica after the mother of St. Augustine , whom I've felt close to since even before I began investigating Orthodoxy.

Last night I became an official member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Finally, I don't feel like an outsider, anymore. God be praised!

Following up on my last post , EJ and I decided it would be best if I went to the ER rather than wait for the regular clinic to open. Amazingly, there was no wait and, when the nurse took me back to a bed, I was surprised to see an actual team waiting there: vitals, IV, the whole nine yards. I went in expecting them to be as unworried as my general practitioner, but when they began checking my airways and asking if I had any trouble swallowing or breathing, I realized it was probably a very good thing that I came to the ER. Long story short, I spent the night in the ICU for observation because they believe I have adult onset hereditary angioedema . Neither I nor they know what triggered it - or even if I actually have it. The labs they sent out won't be back for about a week, after that, they'll be able to confirm or disprove it. The prognosis for this disease, according to Google health, is basically that "Hereditary angioedema can be life threatening and treatment option...

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...