Plastic

So, I have about decided that plastic is just plain evil. The chemicals in it messing with our endocrine systems, no way to get rid of it, never breaks down. It has solved lots of problems but created lots too. I am trying to avoid plastic as much as I can, but it is impossible!

Now this about huge amounts of plastic in the ocean:
Scientists study 'garbage patch' in Pacific Ocean

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Simplify. Local. But really, how do I freeze my local corn if not in plastic bags? The berries can be canned in nice glass jars, but not as whole unprocessed berries but as more of a topping or jelly. My head hurts.

New Appreciation...

I have learned something about myself this summer- I don't do well living alone! I am so use to family life drawing boundaries around my time and activities, that when they are not home for more than a few days life gets off. Up too late, too much T.V., any bit of discipline floating away, lack of focus... You get the picture. I hope I never have to live alone, but I guess if I did I would just have to figure it out. I have such a new appreciation for all the folks in the congregation who live alone...

Ohio and I miss the kids!

West God, we would like to head west. It is time to move on from St. Mark's in Illinois, and we are interested in moving west. So the letter comes from Ohio asking if I would consider a rector position there. I think, hey- good experience right? Wrong direction, but I could learn something by going through the process. My inquiries to the west yield dead ends. At one point the church wide job posting site listed ZERO openings in the entire province VII- the entire west had no full time openings for a priest. And the conversations with Ohio were GOOD. Honest, wonderful people. A congregation that I like and that seems just right. Looking for the skills and background I have. A good fit.

So, I started at St. Andrew's in Elyria, Ohio on May 10th, 2009. Just west of Cleveland, but much further east than we ever imagined we would be. I am in the land of "pop", and 70 degree July days. We did house hunting over spring break, and while we wanted an old bungalow or Victorian, we ended up with a practical ranch built more recently. Space for everything and visitors. The garden is so much greener and fuller than the picture shows. I am enjoying being a rector- when I am not amazed and terrified! I am enjoying stopping at the farmer stands on my way home from work and picking blueberries on cool July evenings from the fields the Episcopal priest and her husband run less than 30 minutes from our home.

We shipped the kids to Texas to visit with family for most of the summer. That is the hardest part about being so far away. The kids need to spend time with the relatives, but I really miss them. I really miss the extended family too. We have space for people to visit- I hope they do. I will plan trips to the west and enjoy exploring the east- life is full of surprises!

So here is the photo proof of my ordination to the priesthood on June 4, 2008. I started seminary in 1994...a marriage, two great children, changing denominations and fighting with the uber-conservative Standing Committee in Dallas (I lost, Chicago won...) here we are!

Now my sweet husband has been exposed to whole new ways of approaching life and he will never be the same. He had lived within 40 miles of where he was born until we moved to Chicago and lived in seminary housing for three months, then the HUGE new rectory in Glen Ellyn. Now he knows that grown adults with children swap out old lives for new ones, moving great distances and taking out loans to follow where God calls. Now he is open to living just about anywhere as long as it is not a compact big city (New York is out, Denver is okay) and not too warm. (He always hated summers in Dallas.) So the adventure continues and just gets better and better. He has quit his job and is attending school and being the house-husband. What next God?