Speak to Me (Advent) Sunday: Actively Waiting

The fact that Thanksgiving slides effortlessly into the Advent season is just as it should be. After the past few days of family gathering from near and far, sitting around the table talking, laughing, passing heaping plates of food--all that bounty!--we can now ride that wave of gratitude as we step into the Advent season.

But what should we be doing during Advent?

It sounds paradoxical during the hustle and bustle of the next coming weeks, but spiritually ... we wait.

Actively.

Like that waiting time before a trip. That period of preparation for a future action, a period of activity in waiting for the Moment.

So in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the next coming weeks, I will also be cocooned in this season of anticipation. I will wait. Actively. With prayer, scripture, and reflection of the healing memory of the God who became child and the hope that memory brings.

Advent wreath 2021: mismatched candle holders, greenery from a foraging adventure, 

one perfect pine cone from Joe during a canal walk, holly leaves from our yard.

No purple or pink candles, but I am okay with that since original Advent wreaths were

made with homemade beeswax candles. 

The Symbolism behind the Advent wreath:

greenery = everlasting life

holly = crown of thorns

pine cones/nuts/pods = life and resurrection

four candles = four weeks of Advent

color purple = prayer, penance, royalty

color pink = rejoicing

circular wreath = eternity of God; His never-ending love

progressive lighting of the candles = expectation and hope surrounding Christ's birth

Time Travelers

Last week, a monumental thing happened: we made our last mortgage payment. When Joe officially submitted the last payment, and after we high-fived and celebrated, the enormity of the moment hit us:  our house was now truly OURS. 

It's a marvelous thing to look back and see how it all began. On that May 22, 1998 we sat with lawyers and realtors around a huge conference table and reviewed contracts and transferred funds and signed on the dotted line, after which we took the boys to McDonald's to celebrate the fact that we had just bought a house. But as excited as we were to move in, it was also daunting thinking how long it would take to pay it off.

Twenty-three years, as it would happen.

Sometimes, an ultimate goal can seem so, so far away. And yet, we moved forward one step at a time, one day at a time. And months passed. Then years. Our youngest son was born, the boys went to grade school, high school, college. We celebrated birthdays and First Communions and Christmases. We lived our lives focused on the now until one day we looked up and realized the goal which had seemed so far away was upon us. 

Then, a few days later, Joe received in the mail a beautiful gift box celebrating the fact that he had  achieved One Million Miler Status with Delta. Inside the box was a gift certificate, a lifetime membership at the Silver Medallion level, two special 1 Million Miler luggage tags, and a commemorative trophy. 

One million miles of work. Travel. Sacrifice. Joe working to build the fort while I was holding it down.  

I find it incredibly serendipitous that both events happened within a week of each other since they offer so many things to ponder and learn. Lessons about the passage of time, and how distance can be measured in miles or minutes or years; lessons about building a house and making it a home; lessons about going forth but hearing the siren call of hearth and home; lessons about perseverance and doggedness and living in the Now even while planning for the Later.

Mostly, though, I think how time is God's gift, a constant that cannot be speeded up, or reversed, or stopped. We live within it, and whether or not we are moving, we are nonetheless traveling.

Every day I visited the building site with the boys 

who wore their Fisher Price tool belts. 

One Million Miler with Delta

2022 Girls' Trip to Italy

 

Announcing the 2022 Girls’ Trip to Italy!

Naples and the Splendors of Sicily

October 5 – 17, 2022

Information session: Sunday, December 5, 2 p.m. at Maria’s house.

Come hear about our exciting 12-day trip to Naples and Sicily! It will be a fun afternoon with information (detailed itinerary, pricing, accommodations, highlights), Q&A, door prizes, and an opportunity to reminisce about past trips and get excited about this new one. It’s always fun to talk about Italy!

Please RSVP to Maria or Laura so we can get your information packet ready.

Pack your bags for Naples and the Splendors of Sicily! Here are a few of the trip highlights:

1- the Veiled Christ in the Sansevero Chapel

2- walking tour of Spacanapoli

3- Caserta and the Royal Palace and gardens

4- chocolate tasting in Modica

5- Abbey of Monreale and the mosaics at the adjacent Benedictine cloister

6- olive oil tasting and lunch at a local farmhouse

7- Valley of Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

8- wine tasting and lunch at a local estate

9- boat excursion to the island of Ortigia

10- a Godfather Tour … 2022 is the 50th anniversary of The Godfather movie, and we will visit the Sicilian towns that served as location when filming The Godfather trilogy

Bones and Ancient Whispers: an Italian Halloween post

On our 2015 Girls' Trip to Italy, our first day full day in Rome began with the Pope's Angelus Blessing in St. Peter's Square, after which we visited the  Catacombe di S. Domitilia featuring 15 km of catacombs, an underground church, and a 2nd century fresco of the Last Supper. 

The catacombs were both beautiful and somber. As we walked through those ancient passageways, we could hear the whispers of those early Christians who not only escaped to the catacombs to secretly practice their faith, but who may have also been secretly buried there in a Christian ceremony.  

Catacombe di S. Domitilia

2nd century fresco of the Last Supper

ancient passageways and ancient whispers

After the catacombs, those ancient whispers became a little more spine-chilling when we visited a Capuchin Crypt where walls, furniture, and chandeliers were decorated (or built) with ancient human bones from Capuchin brothers. 

Evidently, in the early 1600's Pope Urban VIII, whose brother Antonio Barberini was a Capuchin brother, ordered the remains of thousands of Capuchins excavated from a nearby monastery and had their bones placed along the walls of the crypt like works of art and symbols. The crypt houses the remains of about 3,600 brothers buried between 1500 and 1870.

While seemingly macabre, the Capuchins believed that ossuaries are a silent reminder of our own mortality and the passage of life on earth. 

But what did we think? Yikes! This was one of those places where we could say, "Been there, done that. No need to go back."

 And then, like the final BOO! at the end of the Haunted Mansion ride, we encountered this sign upon exiting the Crypt:

"What you are now we used to be; 

what we are now you will be."

Friday Favorites: a professor and a wimpy kid met a million-year-old ghost eating a donut and carrying flowers

Scattered in the Wind

This week, Joe was in Albuquerque, Jonathan was in Boston, Nicholas and Lauren were (and still are) in Nantucket. I received photos of a lobster roll (Boston), a Celtics game (Boston), and a lighthouse (Nantucket). Where was I? NOT in Albuquerque, NOT in Boston, NOT in Nantucket. I was home, with my sidekick, Timothy, and we made the most of the situation: we watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, he watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and we ate Halloween candy. We also decided that Professor McGonagall has the best one-line deliveries and Wimpy Kid is a clever Halloween costume idea.

so very clever

Leaving on a Jet Plane

One million miles. Whoa.

Halloween Bunco

A text reminder for our Bunco night read: wear something festive. I planned to go through our "Hat Box" and pull something together. Since I was wearing black (you're shocked, I know) I thought a witch's hat or a devil's headband. BUT, one hour before the party I opened the closet and realized the Hat Box was waaaaay in the back and to get to it I'd have to dislodge half the contents of the closet. So this is what I did: nothing. I was the most unHalloweeny person there. Except I was wearing black.

what I was going for but did not happen

Surprise Delivery

You know it's going to be a good day when you open the front door and find this beautiful arrangement on your front steps. 

Short Story

Once Upon a Time I started a quilt. THE END.

Ghosts Cannot Lie

Or do they?

When Words Get in the Way (Reflections on our Son's Wedding)

Several times now I have started to write about our family’s wedding festivities; yesterday I even opened my laptop to blog about it, but as soon as the screen loaded I shut it down again.

Sometimes words get in the way.

Because how can I put into words the memory of my son standing at the altar waiting for his bride? How can I explain laughing through tears during Jonathan’s toast at the rehearsal dinner, or the nostalgia and tenderness when I saw Nicholas and Jonathan walking down the aisle together during the wedding processional? How to describe being overcome with emotion when Lauren entered the church on the arm of her father, or when I heard the emotion in my son’s voice during the vows, or when Nicholas and Lauren were pronounced husband and wife?

How can I convey the joy of dancing for hours on end, or watching the groomsmen twirl glow sticks as they performed a slow-motion reenactment of a Star Wars battle on the dance floor? Of the pride of watching 94-year-old Papa leaning on a cane but festively wearing a glow necklace and waving a glow stick?

How do I describe all that love by whittling it down to a simple blog post?

How can words—neatly lined up in military precision—convey the confusion (and sometimes bedlam) of bridesmaids and groomsmen getting ready, or of the mad scramble to deliver the rings to the photographer and to corral everyone onto the bus for photographs at the Capitol? Or of the panic when zippers got stuck and cummerbunds needed adjusting with safety pins?

And the laughter, how to describe that? When our cute ring bearer thought all the groomsmen’s shiny shoes looked like plastic, or when Nicholas was frantically trying to stuff Lauren’s voluminous dress into the back seat of the antique car, or when the photographer asked if any of the groomsmen and bridesmaids were married to each other, to which one of the groomsmen answered, “Not yet!” And later, the unbounding joy of that same groomsman when he caught the garter?

And what tender words do I use to describe the Hallmark moments—the grand entrance of the bride and groom onto the dance floor in the glow of a setting sun, the heartfelt toast and prayer given by Lauren’s father, the moment with Lauren’s mother as the two of us watched our children dance (her only child, my oldest son), the mother-son dance to U2’s Window in the Skies, both of us singing the refrain, “Oh can’t you see what love has done?”

I am a poor writer because I have no words for any of it.

In the meantime, I will let some photos convey what I cannot say …

10-16-21

the invitations

the sweetest notes the morning of the wedding

getting ready with the bridesmaids

Mr. Dennis worked his makeup magic

boys ... they clean up nicely

brothers Timothy and Jonathan (best man) w. ring bearer

the ring bearer and his dad (my brother)

looking good, Carter!

with my parents

driving the groom to the Capitol for First Look photos

the First Look

with Ellie the flower girl

on the Capitol steps

the groomsmen

Nicholas' groomsmen: two brothers, one cousin, 

five friends (most since kindergarten)

the groom and ring bearer

wedding party on the grounds of the Capitol

going to the chapel!

Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church

the groom waiting at the altar

here comes the bride ...

the church was stunning

father of the bride

lifting the veil

one last kiss

giving his daughter's hand in marriage

let us pray ...

there were smiles, there were tears

the moment has arrived ...

Jonathan, the best man, digging in his pocket for the rings

still digging ...

STILL digging, EVERYONE waiting ...

at last! handing over the rings

do you Nicholas?

do you Lauren?

you may kiss the bride ...

the groomsmen and the bridesmaids

celebration!

exiting the church

bride & groom w. parents

bride & groom, parents, siblings

a family of five now a family of six

w. Nonna, Nonno, and Papa

the entire family

w. Nonna and Nonno

w. Papa

w. Dad

Lauren and Ellie, the flower girl

Jonathan and his girlfriend, Caroline

waiting for the couple

antique getaway car

heading to the reception

Nicholas' job was to stuff Lauren's voluminous 

dress into the car! Not an easy task!

the reception was held at the 

William J. Clinton Presidential Center

(presidential library)

the wedding cake

the groom's cake (Clemson and Legos)

the wedding portrait

the venue was stunning

the dance floor

since the couple met on Bumble, there was a

honey/bee theme; place settings were

individual jars of honey

Mr. and Mrs. Novajosky

newlyweds

greeting guests

walking onto the dance floor

the first dance

dancing in the glow of a gorgeous sunset

such a magical moment

such a romantic moment

smiles all around

so graceful

father-daughter dance

mother-daughter dance

mother-daughter dance

mother-son dance

(please forgive all the photos, but the last time

I danced with Nicholas was when I rocked him to sleep

to Kenny Loggins singing Pooh Corner)

singing the refrain to U2's Window in the Skies:

"Oh can't you see what love has done."

sitting down to an elegant dinner

Jonathan and Caroline

(Caroline was my roommate for the weekend ...

she's so much fun!)

Groomsman James O'Quinn 

offering advice to the couple?

these two ... the cutest couple!

Novajosky cousins

all formal

channeling their inner James Bond

baby brother, youngest groomsman

hanging with the big guys

out on the presidential deck

let's dance ... bring out the glow sticks!

at 94 years of age, Papa can still party

as did the rest of the Novajosky clan!

putting on the glow

requested: Star Wars theme song

result: groomsmen reenacting a Star Wars battle 

time for the garter

groomsman Jonathan Mysona was ecstatic 

to have caught the garter

when you're at a presidential library you act ... presidential

hallway leading to venue

Timothy's contribution to my photo library

Timothy, poking fun at his older brother

trying to get the rings out of his pocket