OK, so WordPress added an option wherein you can put POLLS on your blog!! And so I did one. Actually, the church website is on my mind so it’s church-related, but hey, look what I can do!!

How cool is that?

 

OK, I’m kind of easily amused.

Church

There were 6 baptisms plus new members on Sunday!!! Which means, we got cake!!!

And then I got a little bit bored and started imitating Pastor Dave. I feel confident doing this usually because we sit in the back, which means only the peanut gallery people can see me. I did not think that someone would catch me on camera.

   

This the the tiny person behind me, who was also named Olivia. During the sermon she started screaming, “Olivia pick her nose!” which was a little bit disconcerting.

This is the small person who sat in front of us. He managed to accomplish a number of cool feats such as opening a package of M&Ms, which exploded and rolled all over. He then crawled around underneath the pews to get them.

I am maybe not such a good influence on these children.

Also, the Red Sox are losing. Badly.

Also, I have to do the PSATs on Saturday.

Grr.

Welcome to Brady, Jenna, Christina, Jamie, Logan, Cheyanne, Stella, Bryan, Leslie, Nancy, Chris and Molly!

The Taize Experience, as done by MUMC

Actually, I doubt anything could really be the Taize experience except…well, the Taize experience. But we tried!

There is actually a Facebook group called the Taize We Sing Till Our Throats Hurt Appreciation Society, and I’ll copy a bit from their page: For all those who have been to or heard of the wonder that is Taize. Especially for those who have experienced: eating only with a spoon, sweaty Germans singing out of key, camping in hailstones, stealing a red bowl for good luck, crying on a complete stranger’s shoulder, sunburn, singing random songs behind Oyak, eating hundreds of Ritz (with us it was pretzels and nutella), falling asleep in the church and waking up with a stiff neck, and finally…for all those who go to Taize services at home and find it just isn’t the same.

This whole paragraph is stunningly true.

But it actually went quite well, not the same, but pretty good! It’s now going to be a monthly thing, each second Saturday, if any of you are interested in coming sometime.

Thank you to my family…especially my mom, who figured how to use orange fabric in the sanctuary without it looking tacky and my dad who read the prayer…Pastor Dave who was so very patient…Jeff for playing the organ especially on such short notice…Jonathon for reading the psalm on the spur of the moment…and everybody who came and sang with us. I love you all!

A couple photos:

Candles in front of the William Angle Window

The sanctuary!!! Notice please my dad’s back/elbows, Mr. Fornoff’s back, the pentecost banner that has been up for several months now, and the artful Taize decorations.

I really like this one–cross, fabric, candles, and In Remembrance of Me.

Coming Tomorrow: Mom Does the Facebook Face!

In resurrectione tua Christe, caeli et terra laetentur…in resurrectione tua Christe, caeli et terra lae tentur!

Why You Should Not Let a 12 year Old Boy Have Free Reign With a Digital Camera

or, “Whose Eyeball is This?”

Ben had a photography class a few years ago at co-op, and our camera card has never been the same since. He delights in finding the strange and unusual and artsy photos you’re about to see. <relatively mild sarcasm for Olivia> His motto is, “Why make it simple when you can use settings?” I personally am more in the “There is a reason God had someone invent the ‘automatic’ setting” school of thought.

He takes hours setting up a shot.

“OK, now let’s try indoor portrait with children and fireworks blah blah megapixel blah blah blah more to the left blah blah blah awesome.” is a typical example of Ben’s photography. That is why when I needed a portrait of myself for the Pray for Taize bookmark Mom did it. He also has this annoying habit of putting the camera on video and then forgetting about it so we have numerous videos of Dad’s voice trying to figure out what’s going on and why he isn’t getting a picture.

So here’s Ben’s first ever public appearance as an artsy photographer. World, get ready.

This is a relatively nice shot of our pew at church.

This is a Campbell’s Soup Label Official Deposit Box. Speaking of which, The Campbells Are Coming is one of the only songs I can still play on the piano anymore.

The Campbells are coming ho ho, ho ho, the Campbells are coming ho ho, ho ho, to bonnie Loch Levin, ho ho….

This is an absolutely horrible shot of the audience/Dad’s chin/a wall taken at my last orchestra concert.

Yes Ben, seeing a photo of the auditorium wall and people I don’t know really brings back the fond memories.

Ben climbed a tree, with the camera, and took this attractive shot of himself acting like a goofball.

This is a shot taken at the same time, of the view from the tree of the swingset. Notice Ben’s foot. REAL ARTISTS use their feet.

It’s artist’s code.

Speaking of which, has anyone seen those t-shirts that say, “Real Men Play the Marimba”? I always thought those were cool.

This is the namesake of the subheader, because after I found this on the camera I spent a lot of time figuring out who I knew with brown eyes that would allow Ben to take a picture of them. Ben of course has taken many pictures of his own eyeballs, but our entire family has blue eyes. (although some people wrongly insist that mine are green, but that’s another post.)

The eye belongs to Jonathon.

I think those last few pictures speak for themselves.

Plus, I canoed a lot today, and I have to go to a “Service of Blessing” tomorrow, so I don’t feel like writing about them.

Sit vis vobiscum!

The Obama Excuse

This is why I will not be in church tomorrow.

La la la

This is our hymnal.

This is our hymnal opened to Official United Methodist Hymn Number 384, Love Divine All Loves Excelling. Hymnals can actually be really interesting, and I would urge you to check yours out the next time the sermon goes long. (Olivia’s Handy Hint: Write a meaningful sentence from the sermon on your hand before you start, then when someone asks you what you thought you can pretend you were listening.)

When I was little and I would get bored during church, I used to memorize the numbers of hymns. I still know quite a few of them. For example, How Great Thou Art is Official United Methodist Hymn Number 77. Our choral amen that we had to sing once a month for three years is 898, and I will never forget that number. Nor will I ever forget the silent wishing I had that we could sing another amen, any amen, except 898. But we always did.

I have a weird knack for memorizing things. For example, I know all the words to not only Battle Hymn of the Republic, but also The MTA Song, Lord of the Dance and The Braes of Killiecrankie, without even consciously trying to remember them.

In fact, sometimes I wish I didn’t know them, such as when I’m doing actual work and “now tell me a story bout a man named Charlie” starts going through my head. Or if I’m trying to do a chemistry test and it’s Killiecrankie. And it’s always some meaningless distracting part of the song. I mean, who is King Willie? Or McKay, for that matter? And what the #$%&* is a “loff”? Speaking of which, does anyone actually know what “brankie-o” is? Maybe the Scottish made it up. (“I know! We’ll put in random syllables and tell everyone it’s ‘Scots’, and then those unfortunate Americans will really look like idiots!” “Great idea! Let’s start with ‘loff’!”) But back to the original purpose of this post.

In the front of the hymnal there are “Official United Methodist Directions For Singing”. I discovered these when I was ten and I still love them.

 For example, number 2: Sing these tunes exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can. Real adaptable, those early Methodists!

Or number 5: Do not bawl.

There are some songs I really like that we rarely sing, such as Amazing Grace, the Old Rugged Cross, and Softly and Tenderly, and then there are some songs that I don’t really like that we sing often, such as spirituals and songs in Spanish. Often, when we sing He Never Said a Mumbalin Word, musicians from as far away as Omaha come to laugh at us. Sometimes, we, the white people with no sense of rhythm whatsoever, even clap. Did you know that it is possible for seventy-eight people to clap to the same tune, and never once either clap at the same time or hit the beat? Trust me.

Some of them we NEVER sing, probably because they are downright morbid. For example, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood, number 622. This one involves a lot of blood. A LOT of blood. A couple of the songs give you an excuse to say the word “ass” in church, even.

I was in youth choir for three years, and I don’t remember most of our anthems, but one that particularly sticks out in my mind was Rocka My Soul. This one I remember especially because we were made up of six kids between the ages of 7 and 11 and every time we came to the word “bosom” someone would start laughing uncontrollably. I feel so sorry for Mr. Fornoff now.

 

Coming Tomorrow: ORCHESTRA PREVIEW! Otherwise titled, “A Study in Mediocrity”.

 

Here’s The Poop!

(Title disclaimer: my mother suggested it.)

 Somehow, our church lost its septic system. Well, we didn’t really lose it, but no one remembered where the pipe to empty it was, which caused a small problem when the tank filled up. So we had to hire a backhoe to dig randomly in the frozen ground until we found it.

First, they eliminated the play yard, because the other septic system is under there. So the only places they had to dig were the Repenning’s back yard and the Meditation Garden.

Here is the Meditation Garden last week, with the backhoe parked in the background:

Notice the section of fence that they had to remove to make room to dig, and the beautiful crab apple tree. My brother climbed that tree countless times. Also notice the heart-shaped fluffy sequin wreaths, in honor of Valentine’s Day, and the sign that says “Quiet Area: Meditation and Prayer Garden”. That sign originally said “Quite Area” , but they got it changed.

Now, here is the Meditation Garden two days ago:

You’ll see that the fence, which was just installed last year, is gone. So is the tree, the sign, the bench, and the pond. The septic entrance turned out to be directly under the pond. Maybe that’s why the fish kept dying?

Anyway, we found the septic, so now we can use the church bathroom again. Some other random church scenes:

Here is my dad serving soup:

This is the choir:

That’s me in front.

Here’s me trying to signal my mom to stop taking photos of me. It didn’t work.

Happy March First!

Drama in the Desert

Today at church we had a play. I love it when our church does plays.

For example, on Palm Sunday two years ago, we had a reenactment of the Easter story, and it was hilarious. Judas had a really affected way of delivering lines, and he said,”HOW much WILL you PAY me to BEtray HIM?” and when there was an earthquake the narrator said,”And then there was an earthquake” and all the disciples waved their arms and legs in a comical manner. Also, when the rooster crowed a woman in the front pew yelled “Ar-ar-ar-aroooooo!” and some people (not me of course)  thought that was hysterical. For Jesus the narrator announced “he fell to the ground in prayer” and Jesus fell flat on his face. And when they got to putting the crown of thorns on his head, it was really a wreath form and it was too big and kept falling down around his neck. We still talk about that one.

At the last play they did, every time someone crossed into heaven, Mr. Fornoff hit the organ and the choir sang “Allllllllll-le-lu-ya!” which only got funnier as the play progressed.

When I was in third and fourth grades, our Sunday School teacher was really into drama. That year I played Commandments One through Five, Commandment Seven (adultery), A Flock of Crows, and the very important role of A Mime Who Turns Away Jesus. And that was just third grade! And I suppose it must have given some kids a taste for drama, because in the last two middle school plays boys from that class played Captain Hook, A Giant Rabbit, and Nibs the Lost Boy. Although frankly it just made me decide not to go on stage acting ever again.

So here are some pictures from today’s play. This one was about Moses and the Israelites. Try to ignore the blurry ones and people’s heads in the foreground- I was just taking pictures as fast as I could.

This is the main scene. Left to right we have: Israelite 1; Liturgist; Israelite 2; Israelite 3; Israelite 4; Some Guy Who Is Possibly Israelite 5 Or Else Joshua Or Maybe Moses, I’m Not Sure; and The Hand Of Moses Or Else God, I’m Not Sure On That One Either.

This is Probably Moses  again, this time holding a big stick. He used this stick to hit the altar, causing water to flow from the Rock, played by a Small But Attractive Garden Fountain.

Here is said Fountain surrounded by Other Rocks, played by Garbage Bags And Paper.

Here are Almost All The Guys From the Choir, AKA Greek Chorus Made Up Of Men With Four Letters In Their Names, who sang a refrain at pivotal points in the script to indicate that they were pivotal points in the script. Left to right we have Bill, Dick, and Dave. Dave apparently felt the urge to point in a strange manner.

This is The Organist, playing the important role of The Organist. He is also part of the Chorus of Men With Four Letters In Their Names: Bill, Dave, Dick, and Jeff.

This is the set from the back: notice the Bright Orange Power Cord for the Fountain and the Hefty Bags.

And here are the Acolytes For The Day, Karley and JJ. Aren’t they a great team?

The Church Chronicles, episode two

I am in charge of the acolytes, which means I hear whatever people say in the choir or as they’re walking in, and I have been a part of some great conversations.

The first one was when I was standing with the youth choir, talking to some second-graders:

girl: do you like my earrings?

girl #2: oooohhhh! Are they new?

boy: when I grow up i’m gonna have an earring!

girl: no you aren’t, silly, earrings are for girls!

boy: when I grow up I’m gonna have an earring for my TONGUE!!!!

Then last fall the youth went to see Godspell in Port Jervis. I say “the youth”, but I really mean Danielle, Jonathon, Jennifer, and I. No one else could come. The play was at a church……..but Mrs. Repenning pulled into the wrong parking lot. Actually, she pulled into a parking lot that was

a) deserted

b) dark and

c) on the wrong side of the street and several blocks down from where we needed to be.

It was a bit like an alley, really. Then, there was no place to turn around, so she had to back out. To do this she got Jonathon, who was in back with JJ, to turn around and direct her. JJ was making siren noises, which probably didn’t help her concentration either. (I used abbreviations here, because somehow everybody involved has really long names)

Mrs. R: (really worried tone of voice)Jonathonjonathontellmehowi’mdoingamigoingtohitanything?

J: You are three feet from a tree. Please. Stop. Now.

Thank you.

She continued backing and agonizing.

JJ: WEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeEEEEEEeeeee (siren noise)  

J: Good one! You must have missed that last car by at least six inches!  

JJ:WWeeeeeeeEEEEEEEeeeeeee….. 

Me: JJ, ferme la bouche. (that’s French for shut up. We had been discussing foreign languages on the drive.) 

J: (Spanish, but i can’t spell it right) Muertes cabayo y un pantalones.  

Me: What?

 J: The dead horse is wearing pants. 

Me: that’s what i thought you said………… *loud crunch* 

Mrs. R: Jonathon? What was that?  

J: You just ran over a little old lady in a walker.  

*loud crunch again* 

J: Whoops! There goes her husband!  

Danielle: I’ll get out and direct you. (she jumps out of the car, which is moving, albeit slowly) (sidenote: she thinks were geeky. we drive her to the point of jumping out of moving vehicles.) 

Mrs. R: What are you doing? 

D: I TOLD you I was getting out!

Eventually Danielle got back in the van and we found the right parking lot. Unfortunately, there were no more parking spots, so Mrs. Repenning, instead of turning around, backed out. That caused traffic problems, because there were six other cars trying to get in at the same time. Then Danielle started freaking out about how everybody in Port Jervis has guns and is out to get us. Mrs. R. was trying to reassure her when Jonathon noted that “if you see a man and a woman holding hands in Port Jervis you know they’re brother and sister”. His exact words- I did not make this up.  For some reason this really bothered Mrs. Repenning.

Eventually we got out of the parking lot and started looking for a spot on the street.

Jonathon: (Really incredibly rude word in German)

JJ: (repeats rude word several times)

Mrs. R: JJ!

I bet we’re the only church youth group who curses at each other in German.