Another fun-filled weekend!  Friday,  I invited a trio of lovelies to take in Elizabeth’s elementary school’s production of Seussical, Jr.  It was a cute show and what A LOT of work!  THIRTY-FOUR songs and a group of 58 youngsters on stage the entire time.  I have no idea how much more is involved in the full-scale edition of the musical but I remember how daunting a task of a 21 song show was especially for the director.  For those of you who do not know, the musical combines the tales of Horton the Elephant who Heard a Who and Hatched the Egg.  Along with Horton, we were entertained by the Cat in the Hat, JoJo (the son of the Mayor of Whoville and his wife), Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie LaBird, and other characters from the pages of Theodore Geisel.  I have found myself humming the signature piece from the show “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think” for the last few days.  Unfortunately, the youngest of my three companions did not make it through the entire 90 minute production.

Saturday night,  I was the leader at mass which went really well as celebrated the Second Week upon the journey to celebrating the Birth of Our Savior.

Following mass, I headed out to another fun-filled game night with an 80s flare.  I decided to wear my Indiana Jones t-shirt.  One of the other party-goers was REALLY creative and came as the White Cosby in slacks and colorful sweater.  He even brought a box of Jello Instant Chocolate Pudding (after his search for Jello Pudding Pops turned out to be fruitless).  While playing Life, we had The Goonies playing with no sound which somehow made it go quicker.  After Life, the 9 of us formed teams for a round of Trivial Pursuit 80s style while Christmas Vacation went on without sound.  About 1:30AM without a clear champion, the game broke up and I bid adieu since I had to be up in 5 1/2 hours for work.

A fun weekend filled with great friends!

Thank you everyone for the many birthday greetings: facebooked, emailed, phoned (from one of my best friends), or delivered in person.  They all were greatly appreciated and helped make my day.  I am happy to announce that I have been offered and accepted the role of Barrymore in The Hound of the Baskervilles.  A much more limited role than my last but important, nonetheless.

Following my audition, I returned to E-town for mass which was being given in memory of Aunt Carol.  Quite a memorable experience.  No one beyond the back 3-4 rows of the church could hear the opening hymn because something was afoul with the sound equipment.  The organist leaned over the loft railing and asked me to run upfront to see what I could do with it.  Being the technological genius I am, I went into the closet and flipped the switch and voila!  Father Steve wears a pack on his vestment and usually turns it off when he is not speaking.  However, he for some reason, kept forgetting to turn it off and lets just say that he does not possess the most glorious voice ever.  Just being honest.  To lie about a priest surely is not a good thing.

After mass, I traveled to H’ville for an impromptu birthday celebration.  I provided a bag of Sun Chips.  The reason for this… the bag they come in is made of some type of material that creates a very loud, obnoxious sound when the bag is rustled but the Harvest Cheddar variety is tasty.  Thank you Mare for the yummy, German Chocolate Brownie cake… a little too much water necessitated the need for an additional package of brownie mix and the result was delectable.

Travis brought an assortment of games.  I was really tempted to pick my obvious choice and was encouraged to do so since it was “my day.”  However, I picked Trivial Pursuit.  Started off well and went downhill.  Later, Amber brought Star Wars Trivial Pursuit and we divided into teams.  I tried to be intelligent and attempted to pick the person I thought would help me most, but that idea was nixed.  I did all right the first round until I received a question I had not excuse for missing.  “Who lives out beyond the Dune Sea?”  UGH!  I was victorious in round two.

After some stargazing and a return to Mare’s house, it was time to hit the road at 4.30AM!  Megan pooped out shortly before.

July 11, is always memorable as I have a liitle buddy who turned TWO!  After I got home @ 4.50Am, I sent a cool ecard as well as a response to my own birthday ecard.  Hope you had a super birthday, BEEBS!

Also yesterday, Yankees fans lost a great one.  Bob Sheppard was the voice of the Bombers from 1951-2007 when his health prompted him to retire.  The voice of the great ones… from Dimaggio, Mantle, and Berra, to Mr. October, and to Captain Jeter.  Ups and downs throughout but Mr. Sheppard had one of the distinct voices in the box.  So beloved that Derek has the voice resonate each time he steps up to the plate.  An honor which humbled the announcer.

And I still have today off until I go back to work!  A fact that stymied a co-worker of mine who thought I was going out of town.  How she came to that conclusion is beyond me.  Coming from one who likes to change schedules without informing the other person involved I didn’t really pay much attention to the comment.  I will be going out of town next Monday and Tuesday.

Ok… this post is quite long enough thanks again everyone!

This weekend, I attended two masses. Saturday night was my scheduled service to lead the congregation in song. Went really well especially the closing song, “Let there be Peace on Earth.” I don’t know what it was but I felt a strange tingling and actually gave into the sensation and closed my eyes. Normally, I would consider this a HUGE faux pas IF others could see my face. Since the loft is behind the congregation, my momentary lapse was not that great of a deal. Maybe I had an angel on my shoulder.

The choir sang at mass this morning. Since this was unscheduled, I was informed that there was not going to be many members singing this morning so I said if I was up in time to be at 8.30am mass, I would be there. The group was actually singing a song that it had never done before but has always been a personal favorite, “Preciousl Lord, Take My Hand.” So, doesn’t happen regularly but I made the effort and went to church twice in one weekend. Happens occasionally especially when Christmas falls on an unusual day of the week (I have actually attended mass twice in one day). But it is good for me and if I didn’t want to I would not have. My mother attended mass every day when she attended Catholic school. The fact that my siblings and I never attended the same school has always puzzled me. Perhaps our proximity to the public school (right out our front door) had something to do with it.

I did get to catch a nap before I had to return to church for our chicken festival complete with bingo and dish washing (hooray). I won $1.50 after only 2 games (of bingo, not dish washing) at a quarter a pop. This was after only a few rounds had been called. Later, I heard the caller announcing $8.50 or $9.00 to the winner. My 12 year-old nephew was playing beside me. For his final game, Joshua laid down a dollar bill and played 4 cards at one time (not that it did him any good). Is bingo a huge Catholic thing nationwide or just around these parts? I remember that years ago, bingo was played on Monday nights in the church basement. No creamed chicken sandwiches for me… although they sold them at the concession stand under the bingo tent.

Let There Be Peace On Earth (Let It Begin With Me) By Jill Jackson, Sy Miller, arranged by John Brimhall. Single for voice, piano and guitar chords. C Major. 5 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (AP.5-BMP651) See more info…