Goodbye 2010

Ray and I agree it has been a boring year.

I suppose a boring year is better than a horrible year.  2009 was horrible.  2010 was only boring. Maybe it gave us a chance to think, and to heal a little?

Much of the boredom was driven by construction at the Glenview Library.  Employees were told there could be no time off during August and September, which meant there was a stampede for time off during June.

Ray and I had been planning to visit our friend Olivia Robertson in Ireland in June.  so it did not work out for 2010.  We also did not take a family vacation in August as we had done in previous years.  The Goddess Festival had to be re-scheduled for October instead of September.  The year was probably both boring and  really, really annoying.

Maybe we will have interesting things to report for Ray and Deena in 2011.

December 22, 2010

Philip and Deena attended a beautiful performance of The Nutcracker performed by the Joffrey Ballet.

December 21, 2010

We had a great Winter Solstice celebration! But no pictures....because my memory stick was full...

What Has Deena Been Up To?

Deena is still working at the Glenview Public Library and grateful that the building project is at long last over...now for the parking lot project!  anxiously awaiting being able to park on this side of the railroad tracks again.   It is nice having a  room dedicated to genealogy and Glenview history...looking forward to increased opportunities in genealogy.

What Has Ray Been Up To?

Ray is grateful for a comparatively quiet year.  He is still working at St. Anthony Hospital.

Christmas Eve 2010

This year, there were 6 of us around the table at Christmas Eve.  Ray, Philip, Aunt Doree, Aunt Eveline, our friend Gail, and me.

Philip insisted I must make at least one batch of pierogi home-made. But I ended up making 3 batches, because I did not want to slight anyone by home-making a flavor that was not their favorite.

We love to shop at the Kurowski Sausage Shop  deli (2976 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618-7345  (773) 645-1692.)  I go there to buy fried grass  from Poland for the manger and the Wigilia table, and also for Oplatki..  They make great kapusta pierogi, and pretty good potato-cheese pierogi.  But their cheese pierogi are sweet.  So I felt i had to make those myself, and leave out the sugar.  I  thought Philip's favorite was kapusta-mushroom.  But he said it was actually potato.  My mother's recipe called for 3 lb of potatoes.  Makes a huge batch.  Midway through making the last batch my pasta mchine broke.  Bummer!!  I had to finish making the dough with a rolling pin.  I was up until 1:30 a.m.  Next morning of course I overslept.

The menu was glogg, Trader Joe's gingerbread coffee, herring, smoked carp and smoked salmon, kasha, 12 fruuit comppote, 3 kinds of pierogi, cauliflower casserolle in cheese sauce, beets in orange sauce, sauerkraut, noodles with poppy seeds, zurek with mushrooms, sauerkraut,  candy cane pie from Bakers Square, julekake from the Swedish  Bakery, spinach dip with corn chips, pretzels with 3 dips, deviled eggs, and probably other things I have forgotten.

We attended midnight mass at St. John Cantius church. Got home at 2:45 a.m.  I prepared the breakfast casserole for Christmas morning.  and cleaned up a bit from dinner.  By then it was 4:00 a.m.  By the time I got to bed it was 4:30 a.m.  Ray had to go to work at 3:30 a.m. to plow the lots.  He got home arounnd 7:30 a.m.  I overslept until 11:04 a.m. next morning, oh no!! because i had planned to get up early and make the sweet-sour stirfried red cabbage for dinner at Diane's house.  We rushed out of the house without opening our presents.  At least we had our traditional Christmas breakfast: mimosas, breakfast casserole, and 12 fruit compote, with gingerbread coffee.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

December 26, 2010

It snowed today, and Ray had to go to work to plow the parking lots.  It was his turn to carry the pager.

Philip is working out at the gym at NU.

We have not yet unwrapped our Christmas presents.  It has been busier than busy.  Today is the first time in months that I had a little bit of time alone.  I was therefore able to bring this blog up to date with Advent posts.  The memory stick in my camera is full, therefore no pictures.  But I hope to remedy that soon.

We wanted to visit Alek in Cherry Point at Christmas.  But there were no days off between Christmas and New Year's left for me to request at work.  I am sad about that.  I would have had to ask for a week off back in September, and I was not thinking far enough ahead, I guess.  Also I was so busy with the Goddess Festival, which totally consumed my mind.  I had no idea the days off would be snapped up so quickly.

Cherry Point is not that far from Williamsburg.  I would love to spend time with Alek at Christmas, and maybe also a few days at Williamsburg.  Oh well.  Maybe some day.

december 19, 2010

Today we lit the 4th Advent Candle, the yellow one for Earth.

Philip selected a great story called The Christmas Tree Club, by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (1875-1961).  
It was about a girls' club that  did good deeds for needy children.  A good way to achieve a meaningful Christmas!


We set the figures of Joseph and the Ox in the creche.  Joseph is like Osiris.  He is a loving and protective father who provides good, dependable and stable material conditions for his children to grow up in.

Ray also selected a story, because we were not sure Philip would have time to look for a story.  The story Ray chose was called The Wooden Shoes of Little Wolff.  Because the story involved shoes, which is how we can walk all over the earth without hurting our feet, it corresponded to Earth...also because we ground (or "earth") ourselves through our feet.)  The story was also about the cause and effect of how caring deeds create magical results.

 

What is Philip up to these days?

Philip is a junior at Northwestern University in the Medill School of Journalism.  He writes for North By Northwestern.  You can search the website for "Philip Butta" to see his writing.  He wrote a disturbing Halloween story, Tales From the Lower Shelves.  but to balance it out provided a list of good Halloween songs.

What is Alek up to these days?

Alek is a 2nd Lieutenant stationed at the Marine Base at Cherry Point in North Carolina.  He is with a wing support unit, and served in Afghanistan from May to end of September.  He was home on leave for a couple weeks in October.

December 12, 2010

On the third Sunday of Advent, we lit the green candle, representing Water.

We put Mother Mary in the creche.  She represents Water because she is like the goddess Isis, whose symbol is the River Nile.  she is the Water of Life.  She refreshes and activates whatever she touche, just as water revives and activates the earth and the sleeping seed within it...and just as baptism welcomes and signifies the new life our souls have taken on.  She was given a message by the Angel Gabriel, who is the Archangel of Water.  Her milk kept her baby alive.  He foated in her waters before he was born.

Water signifies the soul, dreams, the psyche, emotions, intuitions, and feelings.  Water is not as bright as Fire and Air, which correspond respectively to South and East.  Water corresponds to the West, the sirection of the setting sun, and also the land where our sould go after death.  It is a place of the two lands, where we must control the light and the darkness, especially as the darkness gets stronger as the sun goes further west.

Here is a story about  Water:  "The Christmas Spirit," by William W. Hassler.

December 5, 2010

Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent.  We lit the red candle on the advent wreath, for Fire.

And we set the King figure in the manger, since he followed the Star.  He followed its light, and made the long journey from Babylon, or wherever he came from.  Fire is about courage, and doing what must be done.  It means we listen to our heart, because it does not lie to us.  We do lot let our feelings interfere with what we know is right, and with what needs to be done.  We pray that our hearts may be strong and courageous, with energy for the actions we must carry out.

Here is a story about Fire: "The Holy Night": by Selma Lagerlof.

November 28, 2010

It is the first Sunday of Advent. 

Our Advent candles are of the colors of the 4 elements: earth, air, fire, and water.  During these 4 weeks before Winter Solstice, we honor these elemental realms, which represent stages of spiritual evolution and levels of being.  It is about Spirit coming down to the world of matter; the Word becoming Flesh.

We started with Air, and lit a blue candle representing the air and the sky:

Air is the highest level.  It is the realm of thought.  Everything starts with an idea.  We placed an angel in the manger, to represent the star in the heavens that guides us, and which represents our ideals and our highest truth.  It is this truth that comes down into denser levels of being, and eventually is born into the material world. Also, angels are depicted with wings, like air creatures such as birds:

We sang the Advent song ("O Come O Come Emanuel") then we lit the first candle, blue for Air, and recited "Winter is dark yet each tiny spark brightens the way to Christmas day.  shine little light and show is the way to the bright light of Christmas day."  then we sang "see the little candles shining shining bright O how we love to see their light."  

Then we read a story honoring Air.

It was taken from the book Winter Tales From Poland by Maia Wojciechowska.  It was called "Seven Black Crows," and illustrates what happens when you are not careful what you wish for.  It shows the power of an idea...for good or for ill.  It also features crows, birds of wisdom and the air.

Enjoy this story, which we share with you!

Santa Lucia Day 2010

Happy Lucia Day, everyone!

Philip baked a batch of delicious Lusse Kattor (Lucia rolls).

Ray had to leave for work around 3:30 a.m. sohe missed the beautiful candlelit house, fresh buns, enchanting choir music, and fresh gingerbread coffee, thanks to yesterday's severe snowy weather.

2010 has just been that kind of a year.