A tiny Irish apparition and the dramatics that can come with my job

I've recently added a few new things to my little ( for now) collection of Catholic odds and ends. I've bought a small statue of Our Lady of Grace, the Shining Lights doll version of Our Lady of Knock, and tomorrow or Monday (depending on when I make it over there) I'm going to pick up a small statue of St. Patrick from Saints and Shamrocks. I'm actually kind of hoping they'll have St. Barbara as well, but if not, that's fine.

I also bought a second Shining Lights St. Nicholas. I figured it would be a good gift for Little Bird, while not being too Catholic, which would bother my mom. St. Nicholas and St. Patrick, she could probably live with. Maybe even St. Francis, though I'm not willing to bet on it. But um....any one else? Especially one of the Apparition dolls (Marian apparitions from around the world)....yeah, no. That's just a little too Catholic for my mother, I'm sure.

She gave away Christmas ornaments from Ettal Abbey because they had the Madonna and Child on them! I mean, okay, so they went to a friend whose family is Catholic, but still! Simple gold colored ornaments with the Madonna and Child. They were a set, two royal blue ones with the Abbey on them, two gold ones with the Madonna and Child. Explain to me why the Abbey is acceptable but the Madonna and Child is not?

Anyway, my huffing and puffing aside, I'm hoping that I didn't make a mistake and misjudge it....but mom knows I like the more traditional St. Nicholas figure (and always have) so hopefully it won't be a problem.

Oh! The drama of my job! So, first off, I'm not a secretary, but, for some reason, the wisdom of the people here says I am to answer the phone. Keep in mind, I don't know half of what we offer here, and I have trouble finding everything for the other half. So, I had a lady call wanting information I didn't have, and instead of someone taking and picking up the phone to take the call, I'm given a convoluted set of instructions on how to get to the information. Needless to say, it didn't work. And then! Not to long ago, I had a lady call her ride, loudly, asking where where they and didn't they realize she needed to be picked up 40 minutes ago, and they know that's when she needed to be picked up!

Ah, such fun.

I'll be honest, I like my job, even if the climate control leaves something to be desired and the communication breakdown is of epic proportions. I do still like my job, but some days.....some days would be better with something stronger than coffee.

Yours always,
Tara

One step closer to "Home" and the great part about an Irish Catholic Store

First things first, as of today I am now officially a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, Ga.  I'm incredibly pleased with this fact because I just feel so much more at home when I'm at the Cathedral than when I attend my mother's church and I feel like officially joining just makes that a bit more of a reality.

So, to recap my day. I started with (reluctantly) dragging my lazy bum out of bed and quickly getting dressed in long sleeves. (YES!) I was still cold even with the long sleeves, and had to make use of my sweater, but this is all a good thing because it means that I can start wearing my jackets and layers again and I LOVE that!

Having dragged myself out bed and gotten ready for the day, I went to mass, which was, as always, lovely. I like going to mass. It's a nice way to start the day.

After mass, I went down the road to the fancy Parker's and got breakfast and some change. I walked back to my truck, added a little more time to the meter, and then went and walked around the Colonial Park Cemetery for about half and hour. Then I took the long way back to the rectory office and officially joined the parish. (Yay!)

I then walked around Savannah for another 30 minutes, including briefly stopping in the SCAD shop  (waste of time that, and not in a good way) before heading to Saints and Shamrocks.

Have I mentioned how much I love this little shop? While it's certainly not the greatest Catholic book shop ever, it is actually really well stocked for it's small size. I bought a cross for my wall (it's celtic style and has St. Patrick on it.) as well as buying two books and a pack of two really pretty green pocket handkerchiefs with a lovely clover design embroidered on them. The books are St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works and Three Irish Saints: A Guide to Finding Your Spiritual Style by Kevin Vost. I've already cracked both of them open to get an idea of what they'll be like.

Vost's book isn't really my normal reading style, but it sounded interesting, and I'm not one to turn down a chance to learn more about St. Patrick, so....I figured what the heck? It can't hurt to read it. I'm most excited about the first book though.

I love St. Patrick. I mean, I admire and respect a lot of saints, but I have a particular love for St. Patrick....even if he didn't drive any snakes out of Ireland.

Actually, I don't mind snakes all that much, and would much rather deal with snakes than rodents, but that's not the point here. My point is that I have a special place in my heart for the not-really-Irish Irishman (they claimed him, he's been adopted by the whole country for centuries, he's Irish.) Added to that is the fact that I'm pretty sure he's been working with Mother Mary to bring me to the Catholic church, and you can kind of understand why this book might be of particular interest to me.

I'm slowly getting used to the fact that most Catholics don't think I'm out of my mind when I say "I'm being (gently) dragged to the Catholic church by the Blessed Mother and St. Patrick." Yes, God's involved too, but I think the Good Lord understands that the gentle prodding of Mary, combined with St. Patrick's experience of being called on by generations of Irish Catholics (with their bad tempers and foul mouths) would get the best results. (That being excitement on my part.)

Plus, I'm pretty sure someone out there is the great wide wonder is laughing at me. Not sure who, but someone is laughing at me.

So, what's the great part about an Irish Catholic store? Easy. I can get a lot of my Catholic needs (books, tchotchkes, etc). And then, I can turn around and get lovely little Irish knick-knacks! Did I mention that I love tchotckes?

Seriously, I love kitsch. Shamelessly enjoy these sometimes over-the-top items. I also have a long-standing and deep-set love of the entire British Isles, Ireland and Scotland in particular.

I'm not sure what it says about me that I have this fascination with two groups of people known for having bad tempers, high alcohol tolerance, and a healthy appreciation for knock-down drag-out fights that end with every one having another beer, but there you have it. Proofs in the pudding, so to speak.

Actually, having re-read that paragraph, I think that says a lot about me. Except the alcohol tolerance. I've never actually tried to figure out what my tolerance level is.

Oh well.

Anyway, time for me to sign off for the evening. Take care all!

Yours always,
Tara

Baby hats, tattoo rough drafts, and the blessing of rain

First things first, yesterday I promised you a picture of the cabbage patch baby hat.

It is, quite frankly, a terrible picture. I've got it sitting on a pencil holder and the lighting isn't the best. Hindsight says I attached the pigtails too far up, and I should have made them longer, but I'm not fond of the pigtails at all anyway. The ribbons are light green with two-toned green shamrocks.

You can see my little St. Patrick smiling from where he sits over by my yarn.

I finally got a half-way decent draft of my tattoo design. Being unable to draw is terrible when you have a vivid mind because I know what I want it to look like, but I can't draw worth fish-sticks.

Like I said, rough draft. I'm hoping to put it on my back, just below the mid-point. I think they could probably lay the top line right on top of my scar, which would be nice. I plan on doing most of my tattoos in a cobalt blue, with a little red and maybe some green tossed in. I don't want it to be too big, either.

Our AC is still out at work, which makes the recent rainfall an even larger blessing than usual, having cooled the building enough to avoid heat stroke. I think it's about 80*F in here, which isn't really comfortable, but is cool enough that I'm not sweating like a pig.

I'm not very fond of the guy I'm working with this week. There's nothing really wrong with him, but he's a little condescending and is very knowledgeable about the world. He also likes to poke fun at my knitting, my little St. Patrick, and anything I say that seems naïve to him....which is probably 95% of what I say. Like I said, he's not really a bad guy, but he's not someone I'd choose to hang out with.

I'm supposed to be working on baby knitting for Shawna, but I don't feel like it at all. So tonight I'm working on a hat that I wanted to try. Hopefully I'll finish it tonight, and then I'll start on baby booties tomorrow.  Truthfully, I'm so sick of making the same three patterns over and over that I'm about ready to scream, but I really want to finish that soon.

The building is pretty empty because of the temperature and it's nice and quiet. Ms. L (the lady who cleans the building) is really happy that she got a new carpet cleaner. The other one hurt her back to use. Tomorrow I'll call my boss and verify my schedule this week, give what's going on here this week. I'd love to pick up a couple of extra hours if at all possible.

Anyway, I'll talk to you later!
Yours always,
Tara