Christos Anesti!

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Oh, the pressure to create a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing Bright Week post! I had visions and dreams of drawing a bright, Paschal greeting and scanning it to post here on my blog. But go figure, my precious energy is being well-spent in other ways. Like... sorting all of the junk we've unpacked, planning my friend's bridal shower and getting ready for Baby! Hours of doodling will have to wait... unfortunately.

By the way, I'm so sick of all of the art I've acquired over the years. All of it my own. If anyone is in the market for some original artwork, by all means, please let me know. But if I don't want to hang it in my house, I doubt you'd want to either. :P

Yes, yes, this was supposed to be a Pascha post! We enjoyed a blessed Paschal feast. I was happy to attend for the first time in two years! Of course, my little Holy Friday baby kept me from attending in '06, and last year said baby was sick. Holy Week was a marathon of unpacking and church services... it went by in a blur. I did not attend the Holy Thursday service, because I thought I'd "take it easy", but I ended up really missing it. I won't make the same mistake next year.

Vasi loved arriving at church in the middle of the night, wrapped in her giant quilt. What a dream it must be for children. So surreal. They're awakened from sleep in the middle of the night, taken to church where beautiful candles are glowing and everyone is joyous and singing, processing around parking lots and whatnot. It's funny, V. was an angel all during the service (and even proclaimed--quite audibly--"I want to listen to the sermon!" when I tried to take her to out of the nave for precautionary measures). But then when it was time to receive Holy Communion, she just flipped out. Then we tried again, and she did the same thing. Very, very odd. She had always been so enthusiastic about "Commune" (her word for it) before. Maybe it was just a fluke... I'm hoping it's not the start of a phase... although I know lots of small kids go through a "freak out at the Chalice" stage. Hmm. Lord have mercy! It's a good exercise in humility for parents.

After a good night's rest, and attending the church picnic the next day, we came home and crashed once more. Only to wake up with the stomach flu. All of us got the bug, and only now are we all recovered. I can't complain; it was relatively swift and could have been MUCH worse. Better now than after Baby #2 comes, though!!! God's tender mercies...

Speaking of Baby #2... we are still without an official "name" for her. I wish I did have a name for her, but I'm still floundering. Job, in his long-suffering, has resorted to letting me "figure it out"-- my horrible indecisiveness has made him just a bit indifferent. Especially after 9 months of "Name that baby" ping-pong. I had a midwife appt. today and so far, all is well! I have another appt. next week (I can't believe I'm down to the "weeklies!"). I personally feel like it could be any day now, but who knows? Please keep us in your prayers.

After a long, long day of appointments and errands and attempts at nesting, I should head to bed.