Vignettes and Updates

I have a few cute stories about Craiggy boy:

First, Craig has stopped wearing underwear. He goes commando day and night. He likes how it feels. Occasionally, he will decide he doesn’t want to wear pants – only then will he take pants off and put on underwear. It’s one or the other – not both. I’m not sure when this started, but he’s pretty adamant about it.

I made him a chicken patty dinner a few weeks ago. The boys each tend to take just ketchup on their burgers (including chicken burgers). Craig looked at his and said he wanted pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, ketchup, and mustard. “Now it’s a Krabby Patty!” he said. My little Sponge Bob obsessor.

He takes in show and tell to kindergarten (occasionally – when we remember). He plucked a dragon costume out of the toy bin, complete with dragon tail, and walked downstairs wearing it. “Hey mom, it’s not show and tell, it’s show and TAIL! AHAHAHAHA!”

Liam update:

He is addicted to reading. He reads night and day, day and night. I told him the other day how fun it was to have a nerdy reader for a son, since that’s what I was. It pleased him – he smiled one of those grins that a kid only does when you’ve reached a deep part of him and made him feel seen and validated. He needs me – far less often than the other two, but when the need pops up it’s so keen.

His progress report showed a pretty bad grade in science. He fancies himself a scientist, and was clearly disappointed. We told him to focus, talk to his teacher about how to bring the grade up, and study. And – – – – he did! He just . . . did it. He pulled the grade up. It’s almost effortless. He’s just so smart.

Jack update:

Jack is playing baseball now, having just finished basketball (and flag football before that). The move to a new school has been great for him – he has tons of friends and does many activities. He sits next to me every Sunday in church – I sing in the choir and we sit up in the choir loft in the back, and he comes to sit next to me. He wants to sit close, so our legs touch, and likes my arm around him. He’s a mama’s boy. (When we are near his friends, no touching allowed – he’s all tween. But not yet grown, oh no – still needs me close.)

Rex update:

He’s about to molt, big boy. Growing up fast. The Prof bought him a hammock, so he can sun himself close to his UV light, and he loooooves it. He chills on that thing most of the day. Jack feeds him without prompting every day, and plays with him a lot. A+ pet.

Virgil update:

God will this pain in the ass dog never shuffle off? Dog lovers, I know it’s shocking, but I Just Can’t Even. He barks at every word I say. The older and more senile he gets, the more he just barks. He makes me INSANE. He will outlive me, I know.

Me update:

I’m still seeing my personal trainer twice a week. It’s been 14 months now. I’m much, much stronger, and my back gives me much less trouble than it had been. I do cardio 2-3 times a week too, and it’s great. After a visit to the endocrinologist and some tweaks to the meds, I’ve started to slowly lose weight, too – a pound a week or so?

As for Lent, I have not had a drink since Ash Wednesday and it’s been frankly easy. I have lots of La Croix with slices of lemon or lime in it, hot tea (sometimes with berries in, I love berries muddled in my tea, really gives it some depth of flavor), and occasionally a diet root beer. It’s been fine. I’ve also continued to pray the Divine Hours, and that is surprisingly refreshing as well. The offices are as follows:

• The Office of Midnight (to be done between 10:30 pm and 1:30 am): I almost never do this one, as I am not awake.
• The Office of the Night Watch (to be done between 1:30 am and 4:30 am): I have never once done this one, for the same reason. As Phyllis Tickle says in the intro, the modern life does not lend itself to observing all of these, but God loves the prayers we pray, not the prayers we don’t pray.
• The Office of Dawn (to be done between 4:30 am and 7:30 am): This is how I start my day. There is a Call to Prayer, then Request for Presence (“My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning”), a Greeting, a Hymn, a Psalm, the Gloria, a Small Verse, the Lord’s Prayer, and a Final Blessing. It takes maybe three minutes to read through, and I clutch my beads and breathe the sandalwood scent and try to center in on greeting the day.
• The Morning Office (to be done between 6:00 am and 9:00 am): I do this one upon arrival at work. Call to Prayer, then Request for Presence, Greeting, Refrain, Reading, Refrain, Psalm, Refrain, Gloria, Lord’s Prayer, Prayer of the Day, Concluding Prayer. This one is a bit longer, and generally includes prayers of gratitude for being safely delivered to the beginning of the day. One of my favorite collateral benefits of this process has been that I feel more gratitude day to day, because I am reminded to be grateful in the Morning Office.
• The Midday Office (to be done between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm): This I do at lunch. The Midday Office follows the same pattern as the Morning Office, and I enjoy the chance for focus in the middle of my workday. Again in the introduction, Ms. Tickle notes that “prayer is always a place as well as an action, and the daily offices are like small chapels or wayside stations within the day’s courses. May grace attend all who enter here.” I have found this to be true – I really feel the truth of it. Something about the frequent touch throughout the day — it makes the holiness much closer and easier to access.
• Vespers (to be done between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm): This one, performed at dusk, is more contemplative. The initial Reading is replaced with a Hymn. I often am doing this quickly after dinner – it’s the most contemplative Office but occurs at my least contemplative time.
• The Office of Compline (to be done before bed): This is my favorite one. I pray every night, through this Office, “may the Lord Almighty grant me and those I love a peaceful night and a perfect end.” Such a lovely thought. Compline follows a slightly different order, adding an extra Gloria after the Psalm, and concluding with a Prayer of Thanksgiving. It also includes a prayer of Petition which I also love: “Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake.”

The grounding effect of punctuating the day with these prayers is marked. I also meditate in the morning, right after the Office of Dawn, and I find that my state of mind after meditation seems linked to that first Office, and returns whenever I sit down to pray the remaining offices. This is all, honestly, much more religious than I tend to be, but it feels right at the moment, and I feel more relaxed and loose.

This all became very important today, because I gave my notice at work. I’m moving to a new firm – not my intent, as I wanted to find an in-house role, but hopefully a good move. I had to get away from a not great partner, who, upon hearing my news, vindictively insisted that I leave by Wednesday (so 2 days’ notice). I will not be competing at this new firm – I will have a totally different, local clientele and will bill a much lower rate, so there is no overlap between my current and future firms. Nevertheless, this partner is handling my notice quite poorly, and made my day quite miserable. But I came home, and made dinner, and did not have a bourbon like I normally would. Instead I indulged in a hot cranberry hibiscus tea with defrosted frozen strawberries in it, did a charcoal face mask, and played Candy Crush while listening to podcasts, and now am taking to bed on the early side to read an Anne Perry mystery novel and go to sleep.

May the Lord Almighty grant me and those I love a peaceful night and a perfect end. That includes you! Good night.