roundup, quickly.

Took last week off to spend time with elder and younger on their March Break. It was good to spend time with the kids and not have to remind them to do homework, or get to bed early because tomorrow is a school day, etc, and I couldn't wait for them to go back to school.

One of the things we did was go to St. Paul's Basilica downtown. My mother had been hinting for a while that she wanted to go and see it. Her hinting goes like this: She calls me on the phone and in the middle of a conversation (any conversation) she suddenly says: "Sigh. Oh, it would be so nice if someone were to take me to the Basilica. I've always wanted to go but never made it. Sigh. If only someone would take me. Your father would, if he were still alive. Sigh." and so on. So I took her, and it is one of the most beautiful churches I have seen. They have done some fantastic restoration work there, along with some not so great renovation, but the beauty still wins out. I brought along a camera and took some pictures, which I hope to post along with some of the history of the place, but I'm not Gerald from the Cafeteria is Closed, and it is very possible the photos didn't turn out. Mother was pleased. The girls liked it too, but their attention span isn't great, and trying to keep them under control in an empty church is even harder than keeping them in line during Mass. Who knew?

The choral singing this weekend wasn't too bad for both choirs. Nothing to really complain about, sadly, because complaints make more interesting blog entries. There is a potential problem with the one choir. Father had been talking about maybe coming up with money to hire a soprano cantor. The problem was we used to have a trained soprano who volunteered to sing for us, and Father believed we could find another after she had left. Good luck. So, the MD was going to start looking for an appropriate singer when Father announced he had found one in the congregation. Father says she has a lovely voice. Wonderful. So what's the potential problem? Father's tone deaf. And, personally, I don't believe he really cares about music one way or another.

There's more going on, but that will be for another blog.

Oh, and a laugh for you all:

For Lent we've been saying a decade of the Rosary together. We all take turns leading the prayers. Younger, whose first name is Mary, and who is four, was saying the Hail Mary's with great gusto, until the other night. She was saying her prayer in her excited voice, when she stopped and said, "Is this about me?"
I struggle to keep a straight face as I said, as sympathetically as I could: "No, dear."
"Oh," she said, crestfallen. She continued her prayers after that, but a lot of the gusto was missing.