Yesterday I had an opportunity to visit with a community in New Jersey to witness and participate in the celebration of three new deacons added to the Catholic Church. It was a lovely opportunity (I’ve been using the word ‘lovely’ quite often recently…don’t know why) to see a friend, MRB, who I last saw as I was on staff at The Catholic University of America here in DC back in 2001. MRB is a transitional deacon to be ordained to the priesthood some time in December. He currently serves as Chancellor of his diocese, a pretty big position if you ask me! I was also able to meet up with a few bishops with whom I have only spoken on the phone – that was fun! This weekend offered me an opportunity to network and even meet some local Baltimore clergy who came down for the celebration. It was fun!

Making the drive back yesterday, I thought of my own pending ordination to the Catholic Priesthood next Sunday, October 4th, on the Feast of Saint Francis. My family is driving down for that and we will have many clergy coming in from around the country to celebrate…but over 11 years as a Franciscan Friar makes this date even more special. As I look to another Franciscan community that is more inclusive and will soon hopefully be admitted to full membership, I now turn back once again to my Franciscan roots as a source of strength and identity. This week will be one of preparations and prayer as I move closer to ordinations – something I thought was once impossible having left the Roman church in 2004. A short time after that I found the Independent Catholic Movement, a community of hundreds of thousands of people around the world who are Catholic but look to the church as an inclusive and welcoming community, free of restrictions on those who wish to participate and join in membership. We are not a restrictive community, but one that embraces. As I look to the local American Catholics for support in ministry and service to others, I will look to the future of the Church as it is now unfolding. A future of hope and optimism, free of barriers to love and free of institutional discrimination.

But, first, I have to move the couch.

Instead of buying a tree that would ultimately make its way to the curb a week or so from now, I took at walk in the backyard and grabbed what was once a thriving branch that had fallen.  I brought it in, trimmed it, and then decorated it.  Subtle, much more long-term than a tree, and very arts and craftsy.  Martha would be proud!  Met with mixed reaction, I like it.  Please, no Charlie Brown comments.

I plan on being a baking machine today!

I started this morning with a fresh batch of walnut and cranberry scones for breakfast.  It was my first attempt at making scones since all the times we made scones at home prior to today, T was the pastry chef leading the way.  I was the sous chef getting some things prepped for his handiwork.  After my first time at the helm this morning it was much easier than I thought it would be.  In fact, I enjoyed it so much I thought it might be an option to move to an body of land totally surrounded by water where these baked goodies could be a form of currency.  What would I call this newly founded land?  Well, Sconey Island, of course!

Come on, its funny…AND original…what more do you want?

Anywho, later today will be a batch of chocolate chip cookies for my teachers tomorrow.  I need to find the recipe that T used the last batch he made because those were to die for and the few I brought in for my secretaries were a big hit…must explore some options in the kitchen today.

I enjoy making a little more than cooking – probably because of the detail involved in baking.  I know that probably sounds backwards, as many people prefer to cook since quantities and tastes can vary and it is easier to change courses as the cooking process is in place.  Baking, however, is a one-shot deal.  I like the challenge that baking presents, specific measurements and the importance of temperature or timing.  The result is often a great feeling of satisfaction, especially when I try something I’ve never done before, such as a banana creme brulee I made a few weeks ago for our dessert.  T experimented with puff pastry one night and it was a great treat.  Things like that are, for me, culinary excitement.

Not sure if I am going to venture out today, although I do have a trip to make to deposit some checks and make one bill payment, but I can do that later this afternoon.  This morning will be spent reading and working in the kitchen – what fun!  Martha’s October magazine, some Education Week newspapers I need to catch up on, and the newest edition of GQ are waiting for me on our living room coffee table.  I know, I know, I should’t surround myself with so much technical reading, but the life of a principal/homemaking maverick is not easy.  Yes, I called myself a maverick because I can!

And, so, the day begins.  All this blogging has made me hungry…time for another scone!

Today I began my spring cleaning extravaganza.  I woke up this morning filled with energy, lethargy behind me as the shining sun was calling my name (I hear it now).  I made some pancakes and began the routine of cleaning the house starting with the living room where I spent some time bringing the hardwood floors to a bright shine.  Dusting and vacuuming were in order in the sitting room and dining room as well as some hardwood floor cleaning to complete the morning’s work.  Tomorrow, after J and N’s baby shower, I plan to clean and organize the office and do an intense cleaning of the kitchen including the cabinet interiors.  Later in the week the second floor will be addressed as well as two full days of exterior cleaning to get the grounds ready for planting.  This year I even plan on cleaning the windows but might wait until next week so T can hold the ladder as I climb toward the second floor.

If anyone is wondering the best way take part in a spring cleaning, make sure to refer to Martha’s organized list of areas to address for a thorough cleaning.  I am following her routine because it is one of the most comprehensive preparations for the warmer months, including proper storage of winter clothing and appliances that should be serviced for optimal performance.  If anyone can find a better guide to preparing for the spring, let me know…until then I will continue with Martha’s regimen.

After I got home from teaching my weekly SAT preparatory class, I dabbled in the kitchen for a bit and baked some catfish and made some rice and steamed vegetables for what turned out to be a brilliant dinner.  I coated the fish with some parmesan cheese and baked it in a low heat for thirty minutes while the side dishes finished cooking.  The meal was spot on and something I would most definitely do again.  After dinner I enjoyed a nice phone call with T and looked at some of the photos from his week long adventure in China.  As always his photos are wonderful and clearly reflect the extraordinary cultural experience he took part in.  I’m totally breaking copyright laws right now since I did not get the owner’s permission to use this photo, but here is one of my favorite shots so far of T from this trip:

Make sure to check out his photos to see what I mean!   By the way, doesn’t he have such a great smile?!?

I have to admit that I enjoyed this form of communicating and often used it as a means of online journaling. Sometimes I would process challenging times at work or in my personal life through these blog entries. Sitting and writing, I could just go through what was challenging at the time and eventually come up with a resolution or sense of satisfaction. I have to admit that sometimes I even realized the error of my ways and used it as a means of self improvement.

There is a beginning and an end to everything and today is the end. Thank you for your faithfulness and support as I often blabbed endlessly…but for some strange reason you kept coming back! Thanks again! This is my last hoorah. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

APRIL FOOLS! You don’t think I could leave you hanging like that, do you? HA! I got you. It’s ok, wipe the tears and smile because I am not going anywhere!

I made myself some lunch and decided that today was going to be an education start to the Spring season. I made my way over to Harvard’s Museum of Natural History and then the Peabody Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology. I certainly was impressed with what seemed like a never ending collection. Housed in a modest collection of buildings, you certainly do not get an initial feeling that there will be much to see since most of the displays are three floors above the main entry. Making my way to the first display of birds and their behaviors, I was immediately drawn in to the simplicity of the museum’s layout and relaxed atmosphere. There were plenty of people around, mostly school groups, but after a short while I found myself alone with two museums to myself.

Admission is somewhere around 8 or 9 dollars, depending on how you classify yourself. Anyone with a Harvard ID gets in free, plus any one guest of theirs as well. I used my ID to get in, but was prepared to pay the full nine dollars had they requested. These museums are certainly worth the investment for the amount of time you can spend in either or both museums since admission to one allows entry to the other. Two for one. A bargain!

Walking around and taking many photos in the museum, I only now realize how fascinated I became with the mammal display. Most of my photos from the Natural History Museum are from that one section. Maybe it was the sheer size of some of the displays or maybe it was the abundance of specimens that were both educational and creepy as well. Luckily I did not encounter a Philippine fruit bat last summer because when I saw the specimen on display, I was a bit hesitant to approach it. I do not like bats, especially ones with a wing span of at least three feet. No thank you! I know it sounds silly since all of the displays are well secured behind locked cabinets and maybe I have seen one too many scary movie, and the fact that they are all dead should be a consolation, but you can never be too cautious!

After my fill of natural history, I moved over to see the displays at the Peabody Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology. I was quite impressed with the four floors of cultural exhibits, each floor with a specific concentration: The Americas, Oceania, Asia, and Africa. I enjoyed a special exhibit on the change and continuity of the North American Indian, a visual display of how people across the continent responded to the arrival of Europeans to their land. I also got a chance to experience a new section of the museum which opened this week. Entitled “Storied Walls: Murals of the Americas,” I was able to get a view of large-scale drawings, photos, and pieces of murals from communities in New Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and everywhere in between! Some of the murals are dated between 500-2,000 years old and now are on display. Certainly a treat!

Several hours later, I sit here making this entry and finishing my packing. Making my way back to DC tomorrow afternoon and T making his way to China tomorrow morning, my break is coming to an end and his “break” is about to begin. This Sunday is Easter and we will be celebrating it together in spirit. On that day I will be making my way over to J and N’s for a traditional Easter brunch and I am bringing the dessert. A surprise it is, but let’s just say that I made a trip to Crate and Barrel today to pick up a special serving bowl for the sweet concoction I have planned. Oh, the suspense!

Bon Voyage, T!  Or, should I say 享受你的旅行, T!  (enjoy your trip, T!)

The top two winners pitched ideas about a new Martha food magazine that caters to an audience with food allergies and another magazine for pet lovers. Is that what we really need, more magazines? I’m shocked people voted for those ideas. Those voters should have just tapped on the keyboard of their unplugged computers and would have made just as much impact as these two new magazines will eventually have. I’m not bitter, darlings. It’s just disappointing to see such a good idea get a round of applause and two new magazines added to the list of publications in the MSLO collection. All of this after Martha’s regular Blueprint magazine folded and turned into a supplement to another one of her other magazines.

The winners? They each got their choice of $100,000 or a share of stocks in the MSLO corporation. Honey, you can bet your bippie that I would grab the money and invest it somewhere else, like real estate or a long vacation for us in Bora Bora….as long as its not boring boring. HaHaHa! OK, I’ll stop.

On Wednesday morning I will be making my way up to Cambridge for an extra long Valentine’s Day weekend (more details on that later in the week!) and I will get my snow fix there. Snow is projected there for tomorrow and Wednesday (shocker!) and I look forward to seeing some of that white stuff that I often forget exists since each year it falls less and less in the DC area. Of course, residents of Cambridge, Cambridgians I suppose, are just saying “enough already” at this point. I say “bring it on!”

Martha is doing a Valentine’s week and this morning she and the entire audience is in pajamas. Other than my dreams, this is the first time I suppose I’ve actually seen Martha in lingerie. Always the sexy diva in the kitchen (next to me, of course!) she is showing America some great breakfast recipes including some morning alcoholic beverages she calls “eye openers.” Now we know the secret how she is really able to operate on her self-proclaimed four hours of sleep each night. Do you think she would be a good bunkmate for the new Grammy winner Amy Winehouse? I think they could learn a few things from one another.

As I type, Martha is making some brioche French toast with bacon and syrup but got a little frustrated when some of the syrup got on her bacon. “I don’t like syrup on my bacon!,” she proclaimed.  Now I know should she ever show up on our doorstep. Such culinary disasters should always be avoided when necessary. Don’t worry Martha, we’ll take good care of you if you come to our house – a meal you would have difficulty trying to forget. Now, about that bacon…do you like it crispy or original recipe?

I know my posts have been sporadic this past week, but it has been a busy week at work. In addition to dealing with final interviews for two positions for which I am being considered…more on that tomorrow…we have been busy at work dealing with the nonsensical violence in the schools which resulted in four students shot this week in what appears to be a random drive-by shooting. As one of the investigators of that incident, it is not uncommon to note that little assistance is being provided by the victims which leads one to naturally suggest another shooting attempt for retaliation in the near future. And, so, the cycle of violence continues in the ‘hood.

This was a very busy week for us back in Cheverly. The week began with a dinner with friends at the restaurant/pub Front Page in Dupont Circle. Our friend, and my co-worker, JL has a new girlfriend who flew in from Colorado to spend some time with him. She is a paramedic and a very charming young gal. JL wanted T and I to meet her so we gathered along with J and N for a nice meal and a few drinks. It was a fun event that allowed JL’s new girlfriend D to have the ‘gogolody’ experience which I am sure scared her away…sorry, JL! Seriously, it was a nice night that I will write about again this week and include a great photo taken after the meal!

The following night we met up with HAM at a Vietnamese restaurant in Arlington. The food was nice and light as we discussed the usual politics and job gripes. The ‘H’ part of HAM is traveling soon for work which she is not that excited about given it is her seventh trip oversees for visitations and meetings and I assume at one point or another, given the living conditions she is expected to deal with, enough is enough. Maybe her next assignment will be to do quality control inspections at European spas and this is just the pre-trip. OK, most likely not. Once dinner was over, the night was young and we realized there were more stories to tell…particularly our squirrel story! Luckily, The Cheesecake Factory was a few blocks away and we walked over there for some dessert. I had the turtle cheesecake while T indulged in amaretto cheesecake…..indulged in or on…not sure…anywho…we gorged ourselves and ended the night filled with creamy cheese and Vietnamese goodies.

Enough of this eating out, at least for one night! After watching “Bobby Flay’s Throwdown Lasagna Challenge” on the Food Network, I promised T I would make a lasagna for us. We made our way to Whole Foods and picked up the necessary ingredients along with a wedge of cheese and a baguette to complete the menu. At home, as the lasagna baked, we opened a chilled bottle of Chardonnay and snacked on the new cheese we grabbed at WF’s…what a prequel to the hot lasagna that was waiting for us in the kitchen!

So, now I find myself sitting on the bed in Cambridge this sunny, but cold! (19° F outside right now!!) as T gets ready to go to the Health Center for his final immunization visit. This weekend will be quiet as I make my way back to Cheverly tomorrow afternoon.

I know I have promised a post about a special Christmas Eve’s event with T and I promise that will be Sunday’s entry…so my special visitors who have been looking for this post, seek no more!

Stay warm, people…the February edition of Martha Stewart Living is waiting to be caressed.