Weekend
It was a busy one. Catherine's dance recital was Saturday, and it included a morning dress rehearsal, and me as a stage mom. So it was a very busy day. The little princess did a great job (I was concerned, because, during rehearsal, she was more interested in Mommy than doing her dancing, but she came through for the performance itself) and was extremely cute. Stage mommying is exhausting, though. We had to wrangle about twenty kids among the six of us, with costume changes covering something like eight different dance numbers. Every kid had at least one costume change, and some as many as four (fortunately, that one's mom was ALSO a stage mom).
Then, Sunday, I was scheduled as Lector #2 for Mass. Now, it is the job of Lector #2 to take the Gospel book up during the procession, do the second reading and intentions, and remove the Lectionary book from the pulpit so that the priest can bring the Gospel book and set it there to read from it. Well, I forgot to remove the Lectionary, so Father Vince just kind of dragged it to one side and left it. I was mortified. And then, during his homily, he actually took the Lectionary and used it! Afterwards, I apologized for forgetting it, and he said, "No, no - I was glad you did! I wanted it up there!" So, graciously done on his part making it look as though my forgetfulness was actually planned. And he was very complimentary about my reading. (Not to be falsely modest - I'm quite good at it. The trick is reading as though you're narrating a play, not reading an essay. Too many Lectors read as though it's a news article, rather than something that needs to have some vocal inflection in order to convey the emotional impact of the subject matter.) So that was nice. Then, for the rest of yesterday, it was just the standard Sunday rote - grocery shopping, playing with Catherine, stuff like that. I decided not to take a break in my reading of A Song of Ice & Fire - I started John Stossel's new book, but A Feast for Crows kept calling me. So I finally succumbed to its siren's song. My brother loaned me A Dance with Dragons, so I may just push on through.
Then, Sunday, I was scheduled as Lector #2 for Mass. Now, it is the job of Lector #2 to take the Gospel book up during the procession, do the second reading and intentions, and remove the Lectionary book from the pulpit so that the priest can bring the Gospel book and set it there to read from it. Well, I forgot to remove the Lectionary, so Father Vince just kind of dragged it to one side and left it. I was mortified. And then, during his homily, he actually took the Lectionary and used it! Afterwards, I apologized for forgetting it, and he said, "No, no - I was glad you did! I wanted it up there!" So, graciously done on his part making it look as though my forgetfulness was actually planned. And he was very complimentary about my reading. (Not to be falsely modest - I'm quite good at it. The trick is reading as though you're narrating a play, not reading an essay. Too many Lectors read as though it's a news article, rather than something that needs to have some vocal inflection in order to convey the emotional impact of the subject matter.) So that was nice. Then, for the rest of yesterday, it was just the standard Sunday rote - grocery shopping, playing with Catherine, stuff like that. I decided not to take a break in my reading of A Song of Ice & Fire - I started John Stossel's new book, but A Feast for Crows kept calling me. So I finally succumbed to its siren's song. My brother loaned me A Dance with Dragons, so I may just push on through.