Thursday the 17th: Music of the Week

 *Concert was Tuesday, the same day as I had to drive back from three hours away, and that wiped me out. It was a great concert but not my best playing. I needed to practice more in that space to be comfortable with it.

*I have two Masses this weekend, one with choir and one with a cantor and a new organ. There's no overlap between the two Masses except for Mass parts, but I'm almost done practicing everything for the Masses.

*We had our first pit practice together yesterday, and it sounds rough, but it will come together.

Wednesday the 16th: Food of the Week

 *Sunday we had Springfield Cashew Chicken. My mom made this a lot growing up, and a few years ago I was able to get a copy of the original recipe from the restaurant that invented it, so we tried that out for my dad's 75th birthday. It was spectacular. 

*Monday I made St. Callistus Miner's Steak; this is one of those "greater than the sum of its parts" recipes that is always delicious. We had it over egg noodles.

*Tonight I'm winging it with pasta, olive oil, and herbs and cheese. It should be great.

Tuesday the 15th: Steak Salad

 We made a grilled steak and onion salad. It was so good! I rarely buy steak because of the price, but this was a cheaper one and the grilling and marinade were quite tasty.

 

 

Monday the 14th: Saints of the Week

 SO MANY SAINTS THIS WEEK

*Today is St. Callistus, pope who died in 223. Very little is known for certain, but one of the cemeteries in Rome still bears his name.

*St. Teresa of Jesus, 16th century Spanish Carmelite, founded the Discalced branch along with St. John of the Cross. She was known for her forthrightness, her zest for life, and her zeal for founding new houses. She wrote Interior Castle, a famous mystical work.

*St. Margaret Mary Alacoque or St. Hedwig is for Wednesday; this year I'm celebrating St. Hedwig since I teach with St. Hedwig at our high school. This 13th century Bavarian was wife, mother, and later nun at a convent where her daughter was the abbess. She was canonized only 30 years after her death.

*St. Ignatius of Antioch was a first century priest and martyr, Apostolic Father, and provides evidence of the activity of the early Church. He is mentioned in the first Eucharistic Prayer.

*St. Luke the Evangelist is the feast for this week (Gloria at Mass). He wrote both the Gospel of his name and the Acts of the Apostles; he might have been a physician; he might have died of natural causes. He pays particular attention to the poor and women in his gospels and others at the fringes.

* North American Martyrs rounds out our week on Saturday. These Jesuits were missionaries, killed by indigenous people reluctant to be converted. They died around 1648 in what is now Quebec.

(St. Callistus I: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358599189058448971/)

Friday the 11th: hair cut

 My new hairdresser doesn't like my short hair so she's working on making it longer. This haircut (after 4 months) is slowly blending out my bangs, and should start getting longer in the back. I never go back as often as they like, but they do remember me when I come.

 

 

Thursday the 10th: Music of the Week

 *Church: Three Masses at three parishes this week means that I have a lot to work through to be ready. We are also having visitors this weekend so I need to get ready for them.

*School: Concert is next Tuesday so we are doing final prep, final run throughs, for that.

*Musical: Hopefully we start running through Act I next week.

Wednesday the 9th: Food of the Week

 *Sunday we made curried peanut chicken; it's grilled chicken breast and red bell peppers, sprinkled with coconut and dried cranberries, served over rice. There were plenty of leftovers.

*Monday I made gnocchi from scratch with Big C's help, along with browned butter and sage. They were delicious.

*Tomorrow I think I will make butter chicken in the crockpot and enjoy it for a yummy supper.

Sorry this is short! Life is full right now, and this is the most I can manage today.