Monks did it by candlelight...

Recently, I was given a taste of what it must have been like in the days before electricity was widely used. One evening, while translating Greek for class, our entire neighborhood suddenly lost power. There was no storm that night, so I have no idea the cause. But I needed to finish translating several verses of the Bible for class the next morning. We scrambled around trying to find our candles. We have many, but they are not all kept in the same place in our current home. Though not nearly as bright as the overhead lights, we were able to light enough candles for me to finish my work.




April thought it would make a good picture.










Of course, I was immediately reminded of the images of scribes hunched over a writing desk copying or translating some passage or other.











At least this way I can prove to my professor that I did not let anything get in the way of my studies.

Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, File' Gumbo

About eleven months ago, we adopted our dog from the Animal House Shelter in Huntley, Illinois. His name was Sparks, but that didn't really work for us. So we renamed him Gumbo - a throwback to my New Orleans days. He really is quite a character, and I can hardly imagine our lives before Gumbo (sometimes called Jumbo by the neighborhood kids). If you sing to him, he comes and will dance with you...sometimes begrudgingly. But he's always game for a walk or a tummy rub.

One of the funniest things to me about Gumbo is his "fetching." He doesn't really know how to fetch. You throw the ball (or in our case the Moose, Hippo, or Roo), then he chases it. He never brings it back; he just runs away from you with it in his mouth. Often he will bring you the toy, just to get you to chase him. I think he's going to love it once we have a kid old enough to play with him in this way.

So, my organization got a grant to get a couple of Flip video cameras, and I took it home to try it out. Here's the result.

Coloring Eggs

After our trip to Seattle, we were home for a couple of days, and then we headed to Detroit for Easter weekend. We went to a powerful Good Friday service at Jeff's church. The service was very creative with music, actors, poetry and more.

We got to spend Saturday with our friends Jeff and Bridget and their kids Casey (my Godson) and Sam. Casey got to color eggs for the first time. At first he really didn't want to wear a shirt to cover up his nicer clothes, but he finally caved. And here are the results...


Casey loved all the colors and liked when the eggs dropped into the cups. Looking at that tongue, you can tell he's concentrating.


His second move was always to get the egg out of the dye with the little metal scoop. Whenever he lifted the egg out, he would yell, "I did it!" And then he would promptly drop the egg right back into the dye and...


immediately plunge his hand into the dye and grab the egg. Then he would place the egg on the drying rack. By the end of the activity, his hand was this scary purplish color that looked like the blood had been cut off from his fingers!

But the finish product was pretty good for a first try!




Sam and Jeff danced while we worked on eggs, but I love this toothy grin!

We were able to spend Easter morning at Central, which was wonderful. The sanctuary is always beautifully decorated, and the music was lovely. We didn't get to spend much time with folks afterwards, which was disappointing, but we loved being home for the celebration!

Been a long time...

I am sorry to say that the "no blogging bug" has caught us again. But really...is it any wonder when we haven't had a weekend at home in the month of April? This month has truly been a whirlwind of activity for the McGel family, so I thought I would do my best in a post or two to catch up. But just to give you the jist of what's to come, Vince and I traveled to Seattle for four days, then to Detroit for three. Then I headed to New Orleans for work and play for five days. And as we speak Vince is in San Diego for work for four days. We didn't get pictures of it all, but here are a few of our adventures.

We started our adventures in Seattle (or at least the greater Seattle area). My sister and her family moved out there last summer, and this was our first chance to visit. My brother and his wife were there too, so we a great time.

Tim just returned home from being out to sea (he's in the Navy), and Mika (who has been in the deep south most of her life) could not stop talking about the beauty of the area...the mountains, the water, the change in seasons, the access to nature. In fact, the running joke of the trip went something like this...

"Isn't it beautiful here? How could you NOT want to live here?"

"Yes, it's gorgeous."

"No, I mean the majesty of the mountains...can you even believe it? It feels amazing...I can't describe how I feel out here..."

"Yes, it would be wonderful to have this view every day."

"I don't think you understand...it's so BEAUTIFUL here."

"YES, IT'S BEAUTIFUL. NO ONE IS ARGUING ABOUT THAT!"

Truly, we had a great time teasing Mika, but she is right. It was absolutely beautiful. Vince was trying to figure out if there was a seminary there that he could go to! We ate tons of salmon in every form possible and we hiked in the mountains. We were able to spend time with my nephews Jonathan and Colin and generally had a wonderful time. Here are some of those beautiful views that we were talking about.



A gorgeous snow-capped mountain near my sister's place



All of us at the end of our hike



My cutie nephews Colin and Jonathan...oh wait...he prefers Jon now.



A view of Seattle from the ferry on Puget Sound...my sister lives across the sound from Seattle



Daffodils growing on the balconies at Pike's Place Market



Jake and Robin at our first of many seafood dinners



A view from Scenic Beach. I wonder why they call it that. One of the most disappointing things about visiting Scenic Beach was that you can shuck oysters right on the beach, but the season ended right before we got there!

All of the pictures of our trip are on my facebook page if you are interested.

Yes, we can!

Just as an update for those who did not get the message through another medium, Vince and I went before the Detroit Annual Conference Board of Ordained Ministry on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. We had four interviews each, the first three with four or so people in them and the last one with upwards of 20 people in it.

We felt really good coming out of our interviews which made the drive back to Chicago an easier one! We received our calls on Wednesday, March 4 in the evening, and the good news was in! Vince was approved for commissioning as a deacon, and April was approved for ordination as a deacon!

So, during Annual Conference this year, we will be presented to the clergy session as recommended, and the clergy session has the final vote. The good news is that the clergy usually go with the recommendation of the board, so we don't really have to worry. Then on Sunday, May 17 at 4pm, we will be commissioned and ordained in Adrian, Michigan! Woo-hoo! We would love anyone to be there who would like to come. So, just let me know if you are coming, and we'll send you the details.

This has been a long time coming, and we are grateful that the day is getting closer to reality. Thanks for being with us on this journey!

Ordination Interview Outfit

The ordination interviews are less than 5 days away, and I'm trying to decide between two outfits. I would love your opinion! They each have their pluses and minuses, but I'm hopeful that one will be a clear winner.




OR





Your thoughts?

Happy Mardi Gras!

Well, it's Fat Tuesday again. And another year not in New Orleans! :( Very sad. But we had some folks over for a little party with jambalaya, hurricanes, artichoke cakes and king cakes! It was a great time. Some great old friends were there, as well as some new friends. Here were some of our visitors.



James and Jason helped so much with the party! Jason is from Louisiana and made the best king cakes. Two different flavors, even. It was great not to be the only one cooking.



Joey and Maiko stopped by. Look at that tie that Joey has on. His friend made it for him in 5th grade. He's gotten a lot of good use out of it. He has another in black!



Jonathan, my co-worker at IWJ, looking dapper in his Mardi Gras mask. (Meghan, it's time to infiltrate his facebook page and upload a new profile picture!)



Me, Kristin, and Joy...the purple boa makes another appearance! Dave, sorry you missed it, honey!



The hit of the night was Ms. Cyanna! Who found the bowl with the beads and could not get enough. She and Gumbo (the dog not the food) had a great time together too!

All in all, it was a good Mardi Gras, and now we prepare for Lent. (This is really more Vince's area of expertise!)

P.S....come back in a couple of days to vote on my ordination interview outfit! I have two options that I can't decide between.