Friday Five Christmas Traditons

Jan posted this Friday Five: "Christmas traditions vary from family to family and from regions afar. I've been pleased that my oldest son's wife AA loves to be with our family for Christmas, though I don't think we do anything out of the ordinary. It helps that DC has one brother and two sisters to liven up our home.

Since I finally decorated the Christmas tree and have started baking Christmas cookies, I am thinking of Christmas only being one week away.

So for this Friday Five, tell us five things about the traditions in your family. Think of:"

1.traditions you always do

We Celebrate Hannukahah. Since beloved in Jewish and this usually happens right before Christmas, we light the 8 little candles, one more each night. Tonight will be eight plus the shamus (the middle one, the one used to light the rest.

2. traditions you always cook or eat

Cookies have to be in there somewhere...

3. traditions you would like to start

Still looking for a home church for the main event...

4. traditions you would like to discard

Shopping, Office parties. Actually, since I moved my office to Brooklyn, I really like the office party. It was Tuesday and we had a great time! Hmm. Change can happen?

5.anything about your family Christmases

Well our family tradition involved my father drinking more than usual. The good part was my mother baking lots of wonderful cookies.

Ocho Kandelikas-Happy Happy Hannakah

Friday Five Do Nothing Edition

I'm trying to figure out the reason that the gay marriage bill failed to pass in NY by such a huge number this week? Or failed to pass at all!

1. I won't be doing much more shopping since most of mine is done.

2. I will be filling out more forms, since my mortgage banker at CHASE BANK informed us, moments after the gay marriage bill failed that our Canadian marriage would not be recognized and that we had to apply separately for our mortgage! I bought a house with a partner in 1978 and this didn't happen!

3. I won't be planning Christmas dinner, as we will be going out.

4. I will be wrapping the gifts for the gifts for homeless kids party that our Catholic Lesbians group is having tonight.

5. I will be lighting candles for 8 festive nights!

I cheated with will and won't. I will be taking as many naps as possible!

My Long Weekend-Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we're going to BL's aunt who usually has this shindig. This year she has moved into senior housing, a smaller apartment so it will just be BL and me, her two sons, the gay one and his BF, and straight on and his wife and two kids. Lots of vegetarian food and, oh yes, a turkey, a real one.

Tomorrow will be the shopping event with my godchild, the adult woman. First stop, my 8:00 am a.m. a.p. at the MAC store where I hear there are some special specials and I am lusting after a new power book or whatever they're calling them now will be my Christmas gift to myself. We'll just see. In the evening, it's dinner with the cousins, including my cousin from Florida who I don't see often. I love my cousins and it's always a treat to get together with them.

Saturday we'll be having dinner with our friends in Long Beach, our new home away from home. We're treating our friend, the lawyer who helped us with negotiations that helped us to get such a great price. I hope to stop at Costco on the way. (more shopping-there's no Costco in NYC yet.)

Sunday we rest. Perhaps I'll go the the Church of the Holy Apostles, the Episcopal Church that I'm currently interviewing.

Monday is my pass day. Itinerary to be determined.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Friends

Friday Five Thanksgiving

Jan posted this Thankful Friday Five:
"Aunt Bert says
it's snowing there in Arkansas,
on Catfish Lane, and she hasn't been
able to walk out to their mailbox.
She's been suffering
from a bad case of the mulleygrubs.
The cure for the mulleygrubs,
she tells my sister,
is to get up and bake a cake.
If that doesn't do it, put on a red dress.

--Ginger Andrews (from Hurricane Sisters)

So this Friday before Thanksgiving, think about Aunt Bert and how she'll celebrate Thanksgiving! And how about YOU?"

1. What is your cure for the "mulleygrubs"?
A nap. Probably not the best...

2. Where will you be for Thanksgiving?
We'll be at Beloved's 82 y/o aunt who started eating meat again at the age of 80. The food is always... interesting, but always includes real turkey.

3. What foods will be served? Which are traditional for your family?
Well, There will be Turkey
We're making cranberry sauce and pie
The rest is a crap shoot, but you can bet on lots of vegetarian and vegan options because a good part of the family is one or the other.

4. How do you feel about Thanksgiving as a holiday?
I like it. The secularity, yet warmth and thankfulness of it. The coming together of families, mixed, pulled together, whatever. Last year we were at the same site, yet we had extended families from my family, a sister-in laws family, lots of different families.

5. In this season of Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for?
I'm so grateful to almost have a new home and more space!

Some trivia from FB

You\'ve been living for 60 years, 3 months, and 20 days.
You were born on a Monday.
Your date of conception was probably 1st November 1948.(Do I really want to know this?)
You\'ve seen 15 leap years.
Your Zodiac Sign is Leo.
Your Chinese Zodiac Sign is Ox.
Your Ruling Planet is Sun.
Your Birthstone is Ruby.
Your Birth Flower is Larkspur.
Your Birth Tree is Elm Tree.
Your Birth Number is 1.
Time till your next Birthday 252 days 8 hours 26 mins. (Hmmm, presents, presents?)
Your Lucky Color is Golden Yellow.
Your Lucky Day is Sunday.
Your Lucky Number is One.

And I still have to take a Civil Service Test today, Sigh!

Friday Five- Friday the 13 on the 14th

Sophia posted this scary Friday Five: The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή) (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς) (meaning thirteen), attached to phobía (φοβία) (meaning fear). The term triskaidekaphobia derives from the Greek words "tris", meaning 'three', "kai", meaning 'and', and "deka", meaning 'ten'. the whole word means three and ten. The word was derived in 1911 and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953. (Wikipedia)

With thanks to my dear spouse TechnoGuy for the great suggestion, it's a Friday the 13th Friday Five!

1. How is this Friday the 13th looking for you?
Sinus infection still hanging on, today, the 14th, I have a Civil Service test all day. I would have skipped it, but was gently encouraged by my boss/friend Laurie who reminded me that those promotions could go to less desirable "others." So I'm packing my lunch and sharpening my #2 pencils. The only redeeming thing is that the testing site is 6 blocks from my apartment!

2. Have you ever had anything unlucky happen on Friday the 13th?
Oh Yes. WAY Unlucky. When I went to the bad orthopedic surgeon on a Friday 13, (he was on vacation so I saw the shoulder guy) with severe exacerbation of my back symptoms. He scheduled me for surgery in two weeks. I ended up in the emergency room the next morning and had emergency surgery that day! And thus I am permanently disabled. I could have been a paraplegic if I had not known the symptoms to look for! I was in graduate school to be a rehabilitation counselor at the time. Ironic? I think so...


3. Did your family of origin embrace or scorn superstitions?
Eh, they went both ways. My father was a little more superstitious. My mother not so much.


4. Are there any unique or amusing ones from your family, region, or ethnic background?
My father was a big one for throwing salt over the shoulder when salt was spilled.


5. Do you love or hate horror movies like "Friday the 13th"?
Hate!

Friday Five-What's New

Imagine a brand new kitchen with sparkling appliances!

Songbird posted this NEW FF "Please share with us five things you like *especially* when they are new."

1. So, you have all been hearing about the PROJECT? Well I can't wait for a new refrigerator. I currently live in an apartment so whenever the refrigerator breaks I get a new, old, used in an apartment that has become a co-op fridge,

2. Well, a new co-op. With 2 bedrooms, a heated outdoor pool, a terrace, 2 bathrooms, all new appliances (as soon as we buy and install them) in our new kitchen. and several walk-in closets-on the ocean! We're officially-as of yesterday-in contract! Hooray.

3. Always new shoes.

4. A nice new pen, with gel ink, that writes smoothly.

5. I really need a new Mac. And the new ones have such nice bells and whistles. This one has been showing the beach ball a little too much. The genius tells me I need more RAM and a new battery.

Friday Five-Personal Flotation Device

Kathrykzj posted this lifesaving FF:

In honor of BE Three" I thought I'd offer up a Friday Five of lifesavers. I'm going on our cruise (are you?) because I am excited about meeting up with my blogging buddies again, I am interested in the speaker and because when I went on the first one my life was saved (okay, that may be a little over-dramatized but if you saw me getting on the boat and then the difference when getting off the boat you would know of what I speak).

I don't expect - or need - another life saving moment but I want to support the conference.

Of course lifesavers can come in all sizes and with far less drama. I would readily admit that I have considered a person (children's sermon substitute), the location of a bathroom, and a beverage (the last diet coke in the back of the fridge - score!) all to be lifesavers at one point or another.

And so today I ask you - dramatic or fairly common - what have been/are your lifesavers:"

1) Your lifesaving food/beverage.

It all goes better with a Coke, but Water fills the tiny refrigerator in my office
2) Your lifesaving article of clothing.

Since I missed the shoes chapter of FF, after my back surgery and subsequent disability, Rockport's and Teva's. The most comfortable shoes and sandals, and for Rockports, the ones that stay on, since my feet cannot grip anymore,
3) Your lifesaving movie/book/tv show/music.

As a youngish person, the books of Jane Rule who told me who I was and that it was quite all right. ( and who I later met.0
4) Your lifesaving friend.

Well, not quite a friend, but my therapist, who in two installments over 20 years has saved my sorry ass.
5) Your lifesaving moment.

So many

Women & Spirituality Event in NYC

Women and Spirituality


A Soulful Journey Among Ourselves

Four events
Dates: Nov 11, 13, 14, 15 Check below for details
Several locations in Manhattan

Co-Convenors:
Westina Matthews, PhD
Mark D’Alessio

With guest speakers:
Suzan D. Johnson Cook (Dr. Sujay), Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton,
Amy Julia Becker, Rev. Katharine R. Henderson, Kathleen Kelley, Sumaiya Malik,
The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee, Rev. Jeanne Person, and Rev. Beth Waltemath.

The profound experience of women’s spiritual quests are explored in a four part series presented by the Psychotherapy & Spirituality Institute in association with Auburn Seminary, General Theological Seminary and Trinity Church Wall Street.

Join us to explore how a broader spirituality can emerge from our deepest values. This will be a unique opportunity to learn and renew in a loving and supportive environment; and, you will leave with resources and suggested practices for supporting your faith walk.


Part 1 begins at Auburn Seminary and examines how the sense of connectedness that is uniquely feminine supports social practices essential for a just society.

Wednesday, Nov 11 6:30pm-8:00pm Auburn Seminary
3041 Broadway at 121st Street The Stewart Room

Guest Presenter: Rev. Suzan D. Johnson Cook (Dr. Sujay), (author of Too Blessed to be Stressed, TV producer and host, and Founder & Senior Pastor of the Bronx Christian Fellowship Church)


Part 2 moves to Trinity Wall Street/St. Paul’s Chapel and turns to the spiritual leadership of our invited guest panelists, reflecting on the inspiration they’ve gleaned from women prophets and saints (alongside the significance of “goddesses” and the Divine Feminine).

Friday, Nov 13 6:30pm-8:00pm St. Paul's Chapel
Broadway at Fulton Street

Guest Panelists: Amy Julia Becker (author of Penelope Ayers), Jeanne Person (Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality), Kathleen Kelley (Spiritual Care Director at the Hazelden Foundation), and Sumaiya Malik (founder of Good News Gazette)


Part 3 is a retreat day in the city at General Theological Seminary and is part of the Center for Christian Spirituality’s “Quiet Day” series – a time to come together and create a time apart that invites you to slow down, reflect, be still.

Saturday, Nov 14 10:00am-3:00pm General Theological Seminary Entrance on W. 21st Street bet. Ninth & Tenth Avenues

Faciliator: Westina Matthews, PhD
Guest Presenter: Rev. Julia Kristeller (Director of PSI’s Muslim-Arab Women’s Project & Interfaith Minister)

Part 4 closes our series and returns to Trinity Wall Street where we will share experiences on how women everywhere are seeking a broader, life-affirming spirituality in response to the needs and opportunities of the age.

Sunday, Nov 15 1:00pm-2:30pm Trinity Wall Street
74 Trinity Place 2nd Floor

Guest Presenter: Barbara Cawthorne Crafton (author of Jesus Wept and the celebrated Almost Daily eMos from the Geranium Farm)

Come to one part of the series, or come to all.
Our speakers will have their books available for purchase and signing.

$45 for full series
If purchased separately, Parts 1, 2, 4: $12 each,
Part 3 Quiet Day: $20 (includes lunch)
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
CEU credits available.

For reservations or other information,
please contact Mark D’Alessio at 212-285-0043 x11
or mark@psi-mindspirit.org