do they like sun

Here we are the next day and while I'm pretty excited to jump in and try recording stuff, there are other things to do on Sunday. I remember when Sundays were most unproductive. My daughter went to Catholic school, which meant that we needed to be at service every Sunday and give our weekly tithe. The day basically revolved around which service to attend and it was typically something like noon and the rest of the day, we hardly ever accomplished anything else. 

One of the things that surprised me so much when I moved to the United States was how so very "makwenta" the Church we went to was. I tried to find the closest translation and the words "calculating" and "keeping score" came up. There was literally accounting at the end of every school year, to make sure that one was meeting the minimum required contributions to the parish to be able to avail of the parishioner's tuition rate. Their accounting process was far from flawless, of course. One school year, I found myself comparing notes with the tuition manager because the numbers she got from the parish said I was short on my contributions and I pulled out my meticulously kept file of every single contribution, the duplicate checks with the dates, to prove to her that my contribution was always, at least the exact number needed. I actually had perfect attendance too, not that they cared if you actually went, just that you sent in the contribution for that week. Having reason to move my kids out of that school was very welcome after that.

When I turned in the paperwork needed to transfer my daughter to our current school district, I mentioned to the district registrar that they were sad to see my child leave her old school. She was an A+++++ student and consistently had the highest average in her "batch" (referring to the batch of students in one's grade as a "batch" is a Filipinism, I've been told). The reaction from this lady was the absolutely best. In her most triumphant, and ever so slightly smug but in a good way kind of tone, she went, "We've got her now!" Now that she's graduated, I can tell you, not even once did I feel any regret at the decision to move her to public school. Having to move out of that parish, that was just a perk. 

I could tell you other stories about our time there, but not today. If I were to be very candid about it, some of the stories were quite unbelievable. People being mean, or simply petty, the constant demands for contributions and the words that came out of leadership's mouth. It really made me think about how differently they ran the Church here. I was born and raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school from Kindergarten until I graduated High School. I had none of the same experiences that I had here in my dealings with the church or Catholic school. The expectations, despite being of the same faith, were absolutely not the same. At the end of the day, of course, it's the people that make the church. I hate to say it, but after 20 years, I still haven't found my people here. Not that I'm looking.

Another Trader Joe's opened up in the area. It was the site of an old Bed Bath and Beyond. I realize though, that the older Trader Joe's was still a little closer to drive to. We don't go often because Wegmans is walking distance from our house but walking in there the other night, I spotted an entire orchid display that I never noticed before. I like orchids. When we got the keys to our house, the realtor who handled the sale for Toll left us a large orchid from Wegmans. I bought a couple of them last Valentine's Day and gave one to one of my daughter's teachers. I think she kept it, because she had been told that they remain alive, even when they look not so lively. I've seen YouTube videos saying you could get a re-bloom the following year but I have no idea how to keep them alive or how often to water. Do they like sun or no sun? I'm no green thumb and somewhere along the way, I decided to just stop trying. My younger child actually thought that we were not allowed to have plants at home. Her third grade teacher stopped me in the hallway to ask if anyone at home was allergic to plants/flowers because she was sending home a small potted plant for Valentine's Day and my daughter freaked out and said she can't bring it home. I just laughed and said, "Oh, I just don't have plants because I'm not very good at growing them." I think this year though, I might try getting a couple of poinsettia pots for the front porch to replace the cactus that my husband put there. It really looks dead. I just have to wait until it's time to replace the fall wreath with a Christmas one.

Playlist Recommendation: Layla (Acoustic Live), Eric Clapton from Unplugged