Well, it's been a really nice Labor Day weekend! Not that we actually did anything, but we did nothing special together, and it went well. You know what I mean.
Yesterday's church service was the first with our new priest, and that was rather exciting! Not that she did anything exciting or out-of-the-usual, but... there she was! The new priest(ess). We've waited a year and a half to get our new priest, and it's just lovely to finally Have her. And, despite her being female and all, and having to figure out if we should call her "Mother ___" or "Reverend ___" or just, (I shudder, but some in the congregation do this, and I try to be charitable) "_____," she seems, on first acquaintance, to be quite lovely. Pleasant, intelligent, humorous, straightforward. My impressions are all from our conversation over breakfast, since she didn't preach this week, but so far so good!
About breakfast! This was also our "farewell" service with our bishop. He's retiring, and we'll soon have a new bishop, as well as a new priest. And the new fellow (he is a fellow) has an impressive act to follow. Anyway, Katie and the other young girl who is of an age to be thinking about confirmation, were invited to a special Breakfast with the bishop and the new priest. And, since there were just the two of them, the families of the potential confirmands were invited too, to round out the table. So we breakfasted and chatted, and the bishop talked about confirmation, and Katie and the other girl were quiet but nodded at all the proper moments. And they nodded themselves right into agreeing to add a "recognition of new catechumens" bit to the day's business, which was originally just a service with a baptism and a whole bunch of "receptions into the church" (which is how this bishop handles bringing in members who were already adult members of other denominations). The girls got a script for their lines, and Ed and I dutifully memorized our "I will," and it all went beautifully! And now Katie is, at least officially, started toward confirmation. Whew!
But wait, there's more! I almost forgot to mention one of our new priest's already evident charms! Turns out, she has even more food sensitivities than I've managed to accumulate (as well as grains and dairy, she can't eat eggs or, I'm told, chocolate! Perhaps she can manage nightshades and squashes -- I didn't inquire -- but even so it seems that this will encourage people to provide fruit salads, which will be very nice!). The spread for coffee hour, after church, featured so many tasty things I could eat that I wound up quite stuffed. Definitely points in her favor.
And I baked today. Katie had a friend over, who stayed for dinner, so I thought a dessert would be appreciated, and Ed's been suffering more pains than usual, so I wanted to do something he'd specially like. Thus... the Ridiculous Vanilla Cake. (It's from the Cookies & Cups site, which has many excellent looking recipes.)
And I made another batch of the oatmeal-raspberry jam bars that Travis likes for breakfast. And then I made myself an absolutely wonderful batch of rice pudding in my pressure cooker. With coconut milk and rum-soaked raisins. It is superb. Well worth the heartburn (which does seem to have been lessened by switching to reduced fat coconut milk!). And, because Katie starting school means that it must be fall, because that is where my brain goes when I think "back to school," I needed to make a Pumpkin Thing. So I made a pumpkin pie. In the pressure cooker. With an almond flour/coconut crust. I think it is going to be really delicious, but I won't know until I have a piece for second breakfast tomorrow! Happy thought.
And now, because my lamb needs to be at School tomorrow at the Crack of Dawn for a before-school club meeting, I'm off to bed!
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