Do I have anything to say?: Easter Services

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Easter Services

Yesterday, I spent time at my aunt and uncle's house with my grandparents and other relatives. I left in time to make it to the afternoon Good Friday service at my church. In the afternoon, we have a Communion service followed by the Veneration of the Cross and it was SO awesome. I don't think I've been able to attend this service that often because when given a choice between attending Thursday's washing of the feet/Passion Mass and Good Friday services, I have often chosen Holy Thursday. Friday night, we have Stations of the Cross and the choir sings some of my favorite songs. I was really bummed to have to miss Stations because of my fantasy baseball draft (yes, it seriously was last night and lasted from 7-midnight...seriously!)

This morning, I slept in (since I was at the baseball draft until MIDNIGHT and was 30 minutes away from home!) then stopped by Carter's to use my coupons (can't let THOSE go to waste!) before going back to my aunt and uncle's house (okay, that aunt and uncle's business is driving me crazy because I'm not sure it is grammatically correct, but I can't figure out how it is supposed to be written...oh well...) My mom, sister, and nephew were there for a while too :o) I stayed for quite a while and even got to go on the Easter egg hunt with the kids (ha!) I haven't opened my eggs yet, but they did sound like they had coins in them...fun!

Although I slept in, I came home and took a short nap before getting ready for the Easter Vigil Mass. I LOVE the Easter Vigil and more often than not, have chosen to work Easter so I have Saturday off (although Mass didn't start until 8:30 this year, so I probably could have worked and THEN gone to the Vigil!) Anyway, the Vigil started at 8:30 this year because that's when it would be really dark. The entire church is dark before they spread the light from the newly lit Easter candle to the candles of everyone in the congregation (the choir has little lights because candles and sheet music is not a great idea!) We sit in the candlelight during the readings. (I found this link...we didn't do ALL of the readings, but we did I, III, V, and VII, plus the Epistle, and I think we are in year C; we sang Psalm responses in between each reading.) Before the Gospel reading, the lights all come on as we sing the Gloria and it is just AWESOME! People spent the day decorating the church, so it looked much different than it did last night. There were lilies and pastel decorations and lots of white...quite different than the darkness of the past two days. That description no way compares to experiencing it first hand, but I tried :o)

Tomorrow, I get to go to Easter MORNING Mass and I'm really excited about that too :o) Then, it's back to my aunt and uncle's house for Easter lunch. I am so thankful that I had these four days off this year in order to spend time in prayer and reflection about what this time really means. And, I definitely tried to make each moment count and not take it for granted that I COULD go to these services, and so I went, especially for those who were unable to attend, for whatever reason (I have to give a "shout out" to Gitz because I thought about her a lot this week and brought her with me in spirit :o) )

Well, I bought the Deceptively Delicious cookbook at half price books yesterday and was going to make cookies, but seeing as it is midnight, I think I should just go to bed (and bring chips, dip, and maybe some quick biscuits or something else with me to lunch).

Happy Easter!

P.S. I noticed that my site meter is getting very close to 5000 (most of those "hits" are mine since it took me a while to figure out how to make it not count me!) Even though I don't really care about "hits" and comments, if you find yourself number 5000 and want to leave a comment saying that, I might be able to come up with some sort of prize :o) If no one does the 5000, maybe I'll pick something else like 5050 or something random like 5004 or 5022...ha!
Night!

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This blog purposefully is left full name and location free out of respect to my family and to my patients/families. Due to the nature of my work, and having foster children in my home, it is important to maintain privacy and confidentiality. All photographs of patients were either given to me by the families or taken with family permission. Thank you for your understanding and support in helping me protect myself and "my people" =) If you have any questions, or want to know more about me, feel free to email me at iloveblogs44 {at} gmail {dot} com.

Who's Who

Updated September 2013

I have one sister who is married and has two boys. "A" was born June 2009 and "I" was born March 2012. We are both really close to my parents and have lots of "family dinners".

I wrote a lot about my patients when I first started this blog. Some patients are still growing and thriving, and others have lost their battles.

My first foster placements lived with me from June 2010-September 2011. They were sisters who were 15 and almost 3 when they were placed with me and are now 18 and 5. I called M "the teen" and L "the little one". They live with their mom who still has many issues, but are doing well (ok) and I still have (not enough) contact with them.

My second foster placement came to me September 6, 2012. I call her Zoe and she turned 5 in April. She has cystic fibrosis and has been a patient on my floor at the hospital. The plan is still reunification.

Ivy is a 17-year-old whose mom died just before Thanksgiving. She has a Guardian, but is unable to live with him due to some family issues. She has no other family who is willing/able to take her. She moved in with me the beginning of February. She moved to a group home at the beginning of August as her needs were too great for me with my schedule and having another child with special needs.