Christmas

Lunch time!

Well, I had an interesting Christmas. Mum and I visited the bat hospital up the coast. Mum is a wildlife carer, her latest passion is fruit bats, they are really cute and very social animals. I had a couple try to grab on to me for a hug, Mum had about three climbing up her arm at one point. I also got to sit with one of the resident cockatoos, he's partly bald, he doesn't even have a crest. Poor little guy had beak and feather disease. He's re-growing the feathers though, and he loves pats. He lays his little head on your lap and lets you stroke him. He's such a cutie!


I went to four Masses over Christmas, and sung at two. Both the midnight Masses. There was one at the Carmelite's for the nuns at 9pm. It was a bit improv, because it was just a little choir, my friend, her family and me. It was fun though. Midnight Mass was back up in the choir loft at the Cathedral. We had a really cheesy responsory psalm, sung by a woman who insists singing like an opera singer....a bad opera singer. My friend's sister started laughing, and I had to look down to recompose myself, thankfully I was up the back! Our amazing bishop brought up abortion, homosexuality and contraception during his homily. It was fun to watch the women in front squirm. The 6pm Mass was aweful, all the submarine Catholics emerged and the Cathedral was stuffed, I was lucky to get a pew, I saw the regular Catholics pushed to the side pews that are used for Confession.. It was a bit awkward being the only one not using a 'cheat sheet' for the responses. I just wish the Cathedral was usually that full. At the Christmas morning Mass the bishop told us about how their used to be more than one Mass on Christmas morning. I was glad to be up the front, my Mum, friend and I lead the responses and postures, which was kinda fun.

Yesterday I slept pretty much all day. I feel so refreshed!

Christmas preparations

Today was busy, especially since I got up so late. I've been making chocolate, ginger and almond parcels for my friends and the priests. Wrapping them. Running out of wrapping paper. Finishing off the Next Generation series. Working on Fr Nicolas' going-away gift. Plotting my Mum's present and staring at my dress which still needs to be finished. This has been my most stressful Christmas and inbetween it all I've been vowing to be more organised next year.

However, most importantly, I've been making more time to pray. I've kinda sucked at it, not praying mornings most days and forgetting the Angelus at noon. This is the first year that I've really put effort into maintaining the 'little Lent' that Advent is supposed to be. It was only towards the end of Advent last year when I found out that it was supposed to be a solemn time, with that sense of waiting. Although, I can feel that wave society experiences this time of year which peaks at Christmas. While it's not a solemn feeling, I think it helps with that sense of the sacred when the world pauses during Christmas.

So...much...art!

I've been doing a lot of art lately. It's challenging when I have to do a lot at the same time. I did a picture of Our Lady for my friend's Mum who's looked after me a lot this year, she's my favourite advice giver ^_^ The other is for the bishop, my going-away present to him.

Merry Christmas from WoW

This looked very out of place >.>

Caroling

I went caroling for the first time the other day, I've never done it before. We went to a nursing home with some women front he local library and a number of young Catholics. My singing teacher played the piano, her mother; the violin and my other friend her guitar. We had not practiced at all, so we were just making it up as we went along, it made me a little nervous, and when I'm nervous the edges of my mouth (which unfornuately is what I'm usually using in these moments) starts to twitch, which adds embarrassment to the nerves!

I've never been to a nursing home without visiting a relative. I'm so bad at talking to old people because they're usually deaf or not-all-there and I really don't know what to say half the time lol! One of my friends works in a nursing home, so it was interesting to watch her interact, she's so gentle too. Mum says to just patter on to them. My friend's mum said it took her while to know what to do, it just seems to take practice really.

I'm glad I got to do a good deed this Christmas ^_^