"But It's Thanksgiving Weekend..."

So I found out that a friend of mine died yesterday. She had been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's and we sang together. While she'd been on my mind a lot, I wasn't in direct contact with her since she went into an assisted living facility. 

I was helping the family get the memorial service taken care of. The date they chose was over Thanksgiving weekend...and I get it. If family is going to be here, that's really a good time. And it's not as if it's Christmas or Easter. I can see that those weeks would be a problem - those are The Big Two in the church. This is Thanksgiving. Not even a "holy day." 

I called around to try to find a priest, since we currently are still searching. I called the Diocese; they were noncommittal and suggested that I contact the "sub list"... I spent 2+ hours calling and leaving messages. Finally, I got hold of a priest who usually subs for us. He couldn't do it, but gave me a few pointers on phone calls to make, which I did. 

At one church (which will be nameless), I spoke to the office staffer who said, "Well that's Thanksgiving weekend; it's awfully inconvenient." After I picked up my jaw from the desk, the staffer went on to say, "Just because that's what the family wants, that doesn't mean it has to happen that way." 


Seriously. A friend of mine was sitting there and she heard it. I was stunned...gobsmacked... Set back on my heels by this response. 

I finally got the situation resolved, but I can't believe that response. True: churches are run by PEOPLE. I don't expect unicorn farts and rose petals. 

What I actually DO expect is compassion and a willingness to at least make an effort. 

Shower Bombs...

Well. The one batch bombed. No pun intended. They were too dry. They just didn't work. This is the result after I stuck them in the jar. The ones in the white cups are incredibly fragile. I think it's the lime juice. Lime juice has significantly less acid in it than lemon juice - and the mixture was not constituted correctly. 

Oh well. Live and learn. I'll use them for foot soaks or something. The essential oils are still good. Just no fizz. 

Fizz may be over-rated. 

My Make & Take has ONE person attending. Oh well. (I seem to be saying that a lot...) It's one person, she's a friend of mine, and I'm looking forward to spending the time. I'll use one of the kits to make my own "toys" and since it's just her, I'll bring ALL my oils and she can pick her own fragrance. 

She may even decide to get a wholesale membership, so I'm cool with that. I was discouraged by the low turn-out on these oil education events, but at each one, I've gotten a sign-up, so I can't complain. As one person said, "If you only had one and they signed up, then you had 100% success." I'm not necessarily in it for signing people up. 

I do believe in the products. I do believe in detoxing your house and your own body. I find myself feeling a lot cleaner - I'm finding that my skin looks better and my hair is nicer. I've cut out a lot of the chemical crap. 

Now, once I get my braces off, I can start eating more healthy as well. It's easy to eat crap when crap is all you can chew!

Studio update...

So one of my teachers came back from Puerto Rico; she went there to live, got blown back by Irma and Maria, and now is staying stateside. She's bored because she's still looking for a job. She reorganized the studio. 

I mean, she cleaned, de-cluttered, reorganized, and designed a display area for us for Christmas. She's very good at that! She also did some flyers for us for online reviews and a few other things. She's a talented graphic designer and I really appreciated her help with the studio. 

It's not that the place wasn't cleaned. We have someone who does that weekly. But sometimes, the "deep cleaning" stuff gets neglected. Hubby is putting up a new gizmo for WiFi. We'll have a nice link, I hope, and won't drop signals every few moments. 

And I'm working on a little project for the spot at the back where there's a 2-way mirror. She tried to use those "neon markers" that work on glass, but apparently, with 2-way mirror glass, it doesn't work well. I'm going to do a sign and call it the "Just Breathe Christmas Wishes" wall. I'm cutting out stars in construction paper and will have them, along with pens, in a basket at the back. As students arrive or leave, they can grab a star, write a wish, and then post it on the window. 

We don't really "decorate" for Christmas, but I will put up a few things to brighten up the space. Winters here are different lately... They're more grey and icky. We need some jazziness to get past the glum days. Hopefully this will work. 

Knitting...

I'd love to show you knitting. However, I haven't done any. Seriously, haven't picked up a needle since my last post to you. I've brought it to work, worked through lunch, worked on my Yoga for Healthy Aging final, worked on church stuff, organized (and continue to organize) my office space, de-cluttered, got rid of magazines...

And haven't knitted a stitch. But I'm told that a friend's mom is going to ask me to teach her to knit. This could be interesting. And I'm not sure where it's going to fit in. But we'll see how this works out. 

I've got a list a mile long for tomorrow. And knitting is on it. Here's hoping... 

Random Picture...

Yes, sometimes I'm running from pillar to post. Sometimes, I'm running late. But sometimes, you  have to stop. This was the view on my way to work the other day. It was freezing cold...the first real cold snap of the season. And the fog on the ground was kind of spooky. And the sun was rising. 

And the picture was gorgeous. 

It's at my favorite early-morning picture taking spot, down by the river and the swing bridge. 

Isn't it beautiful? Isn't the world a lovely place, when we're not busy trying to destroy it?