Good Bye

I have been working toward reducing computer use over the past month or so, with the goal of having no computer in the house as of February 1, 2007. My first step was to stop using Outlook (see previous post), and this seemingly small step made a huge change immediately! I have also tried to check email less often, in preparation for having to actually leave the house and go somewhere with internet access if I want to check email. All of these steps have made it clear to me that the computer, especially the internet, is incredibly addictive for me. So I will be cancelling our internet service as of December 15th (I take my last final exam for ICU on the 14th). At that point the computer is basically gone - but I will take a few weeks to clean off things that I want to keep (burning some things to disk and printing others) in preparation for physically removing it. It has become clear to me that maintaining this Blog is not going to happen once I make this change. In fact, I am already not maintaining it! It is theoretically possible to post once a week, which is my planned amount of computer/internet use, but I can tell that once I started disconnecting, the urge to post things died off pretty quickly! So this is the end of my Blog. I hope you've enjoyed it - in the future if you want to know my opinions about things or updates on my family, you'll have to find some other way to check in with me.

Angels and Demons, and the rest of us?

This semester Ted and I are taking a course entitled "Elements of Moral Theology." The lecturer is Romanus Cessario, and several of the required texts are books he has written. I think it is the best course we've taken through ICU.

The overarching theme of the course is that living a moral life means living according to our nature. In one of the books he makes this point by contrasting it with the concept of morality as rules that we have to follow. He mentions an old "manual" of moral theology that makes a distinction among sexual sins, categorizing them as either perverse (unnatural) or natural. For example, adultery is listed as "natural" while bestiality is listed as perverse.

It seems to me that this is a very common way of thinking. But it is wrong-headed and potentially dangerous. It is wrong to think that there are those among us who are "demons" - the people who do bad things that are unnatural or perverse (sex with children, for example), and others who are "angels" - those who live a totally morally upright life. This leaves the rest of us muddling along, not doing Really Bad Things, but not aiming for sanctity, because that is for the "angels," and would require superhuman effort.

The reality is that the moral life is a life lived in total conformity to Jesus Christ, and this is not something that is against our nature. It is beyond our nature, it is true. But we were made for God, and God gives us the grace to accomplish what we were made for. We are all called to be saints, and "following the rules" makes us the person we were meant to be, and ultimately makes us happy.

Wedding Cakes

The cakes came out wonderfully, although I know what I would do differently the next time! But that is for me to know and you to guess.

More Wedding Cakes

On Wednesday I made the cheesecake (cake #2)...looks and smells like another winner! (Another recipe from the Cake Bible) I let John lick the spatula, and all the way to Paul's house he kept getting mad about the cake sitting on the dash. When he saw Ted taking it out of the car and carrying it away he was quite upset!

Today I made the Frangelico-flavored syrup that the main, tiered cake will be moistened with, as well as the Frangelico-flavored buttercream that will frost it. Buttercream is just the very best possible thing to put on a cake. No other kind of frosting can even touch it.

Tomorrow I am making the White Spice Pound Cake. I splurged and bought a bundt/tube pan in the shape of a rose (http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=196286), and I am hoping it comes out as beautifully as I am picturing it will be.

Tuesday's Election

I'm encouraging Washington voters to take a look at http://www.lifeoftheparty.typepad.com/.

Michelle actually has gone to the trouble to be involved in the Republican party, and from the inside is confirming what I have feared for some time. Following her advice, I did not vote in the elections where the choice was between a pro-choice Democrat and a pro-choice Republican. (I voted absentee, so it is already in the mail.) Anyway, take a look at what she has to say.

Recent Photos of John

John Update

I will post some pictures, because that is why you all read my Blog anyway! John just keeps growing and maturing, of course. It is funny how at every stage it is impossible to really grasp that they next stage is coming.

He is running everywhere, and is showing signs of being a climber (see the pictures of him climbing the cat tree). He loves to be outside - he would really spend all day outside if I were willing to stay out with him.

He is just entering a new stage where it is clear that he knows most of the time what it is we want him to do, and if it doesn't correspond to what he wants to do, he lets us know! We are therefore beginning the process of navigating what is the right amount of correction and punishment to address the discipline needs of this age. We want him to be a child eager to try new things and confident about life, but also a child with self-discipline who is respectful of the authority of his parents. If anyone has some great advice, feel free to post a comment!

Knitting

I'm on a Blog roll today. Not sure why, but somehow I'm just in the mood to catch you all up on my life. I've been taking some knitting classes with my sister-in-law, and having fun getting back into knitting. Burien has a really nice little yarn shop, The Yarn Stash, and we are taking a sock class right now. I'm learning the Magic Loop method of knitting-in-the-round, and it is so great! If you are a knitter and knit with 5 double pointed needles to knit in the round, find a way to learn this Magic Loop method.

If you are in the vicinity of Burien, check out The Yarn Stash at 615 SW 152nd (206-246-2727).

Paul & Brandy's Wedding Cakes

Our dear friend, Paul Grady, asked me if I would make the cake for his wedding. I said absolutely NOT!! I love to bake, and I am quite confident that I can bake a very yummy cake, but the decorating part is just not my thing. So I told him it would be just too stressful to worry about making a beautiful cake for a wedding.

About three weeks ago he called me again, begging. He said he and Brandy had been to three HIGHLY recommended wedding cake bakers, and the cakes tasted awful! He said that they truly didn't care what the cakes looked like, they just wanted them to taste good. So I gave in.

But of course, I want it to look beautiful, too. So I got out my copy of the Cake Bible and picked out the wedding cake in it that looked the easiest to decorate. I handed this off to Paul, and he and Brandy took it with them for their Engaged Encounter weekend. In between praying and retreating, they looked at cake recipes! It turns out that what they really want is several different, delicious cakes. They really don't even want the whole wedding cake thing. So we are doing a modified version of the one I picked out (only two tiers, instead of three) and then three other wonderful cakes out of the Cake Bible, all of which (I'm not sure if they did this on purpose) are cakes that don't even get frosted or decorated! How perfect is that?

I am baking the first cake as I type. It is the Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte. Here is how the author describes it:

"This cake is my favorite way to eat chocolate...like the creamiest truffle wedded to the purest chocolate mousse. It is chocolate at its most intense flavor and perfect consistency. I prefer to serve this cake at room temperature because, when served chilled, the texture metamorphoses into dense fudge. But as my friend Susan Wyler says: "Who on earth is going to complain about that?"

We are going to serve it at room temperature. This cake is not a cake, actually. It is made with the best bittersweet chocolate you can find, unsalted butter, and eggs. That is it. I can't wait to taste it!

If you are a cake baker, and don't own the Cake Bible, I really recommend you get hold of it. Click HERE to find out more (TheCakeBible.com)

Breaking the Addiction

I really am addicted to computers, I've decided. I choose tasks that can be completed on the computer over other tasks a lot of the time, and I waste time on the computer, despite the fact that John hates it when I'm on it! So I've started unhooking, with the goal of having it out of the house by February 1, 2007.

Step One: Break the Outlook addiction. I purchased myself a very nice organizer - the kind that you buy the binder and then the calendar or task list or other pages (whatever you think you'll use) and then you put it together to your liking. Which is just what I did, and amazingly, in just one day, I'd switched over from Outlook! And I already feel less addicted to the computer. It is really amazing.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes, and on what the fate of this Blog will be.

Getting More Nutty-Crunchy by the Day!

Ted and I just keep talking about the critique of technology that we think needs to happen in our culture. We are just so addicted, and it has so many implications for our lives as Christians. Right now we are seriously considering making a change in our car ownership and use. We'll see if we go for it or not - we need to get more information first. Here's a link to what we are thinking about, if you want to see our latest craziness!

http://www.feelgoodcars.com/

Life of the Party

Here's a blog I'm following a bit, because Michelle McIntyre is asking the very same questions I've started to ask about the issue of supporting pro-choice Republicans. She has some very good things to say.

www.lifeoftheparty.typepad.com

Technology Addiction?

As I approach the completion of my distance learning MA (see previous post), I am thinking yet again of getting the computer out of the house. This is something that is on my mind often. I use the computer a lot - email, blogging (!), online shopping, making greeting cards with Publisher, keeping track of my life with Outlook, uploading photos and ordering prints...

Yet, I want to use it less, or not at all. I really think I'm addicted to it. My father used to say that the way you could tell if you were addicted to a form of technology was to listen to how you talked about it if getting rid of it were suggested.

1. "But I can't get rid of X technology because I have to have it for ___________"

AND

2. "I don't really use X technology that much anyway...just for really important things" (e.g. "I only watch the news and educational programs on TV")

Now, both of these statements might be almost true. Take cars, for example. It really is very difficult to function without a car in the world we live in. But that might mean that the addiction goes beyond yourself and has become a part of your culture.

I am thinking hard about shutting off my computer and putting it in a closet on January 1st. And then I want to try to live without it for a month. I am hoping the result will be that I decide to get it completely out of the house on February 1st.

So this Blog may be coming to an end in 2007 - but I'll keep you posted in the meantime!

Almost done with my MA in Theology!

As many of you know, Ted and I have been working on a distance learning MA in Theology for quite a few years now through International Catholic University (one course at a time, and several times we took some semesters off when we were too busy). This past summer and now this fall I signed up for two courses at a time in order to get done quickly - and I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel. It has been a very good thing to do. It is certainly not at the level of committing oneself full time to school to complete an MA, but on the other hand, it has made us read and write and think about things that we would never have taken the time for otherwise. If you are interested, we are now the proud owners of 13 courses on tape/CD/video (format varies from course to course because we made different choices at different times depending upon what we thought would work best) and we are more than happy to lend them out.

For more information on our program go to http://home.comcast.net/~icuweb/