So my mother is in a nursing home temporarily for physical rehab therapy, right? First the doctor & discharge planner at the hospital said she'd be there a week. And I get that this is a guesstimate, but still, they thought it would be *very* short term. Important thing of note: Medicare will pay for the first 20 days, so long as doctors agree that ( Read more... )

Thanks to washingtondc for the great advice on where to go for Midnight Mass! I was a bit put off by the modernist architecture in the church nearest me, so I wanted to go somewhere more traditional to pay homage to the birth of Jesus and the faith of my kinfolk. Got lots of great suggestions, and found that the Cathedral of St. Matthew in DC is also on ( Read more... )

(for which I use my spelling nitpicking icon ( Read more... )

It's bugging me that the centerpiece of my Mary altar is a candle. A really pretty pale blue Virgin Mary-shaped candle that I bought visiting tamchronin in Phoenix nine years ago, but still, a candle. But I can't decide between two statues! So please help me pick: this one or this one? (Caveat: I'm not paying that price for the second one. I found it ( Read more... )

Had a bit of a heated discussion with a friend tonight about my #1 reason for disliking the holiday season: gifting culture clashes. I'd be tempted to make my main question here "are my experiences honestly THAT atypical?" if I hadn't just come across this on the Miss Manners feed: Miss Manners says "time to squelch company Secret Santa programs. ( Read more... )