Ramblings...

So, I spent a couple HOURS on blogspot last night finding other Orthodox bloggers, and was distressed that many of them hadn't written anything since '05...'04...'03... I did find a bunch to add to my blog list, but it was kind of a letdown to find blog after blog written by a priest's wife (YAY!) that hadn't been updated in years (waah!). Oh please, presbyteras and matushkas, keep writing! I have to learn your recipes for vasilopita, what it is you say in Russian at Christmas (I used to know and have forgotten), and how on earth to keep the Lenten fast with a toddler!!
Had services this morning for St. John the Baptist. I am still learning which hymns I only have memorized in English, and which I only have memorized in Greek, and so I still sometimes start a hymn and then have to switch languages to finish it. :)
I have a toddler who will eat apple or orange slices happily and scream when there are no more, will eat salad more often than not if the dressing is ranch, and as I've said before, will eat just about anything at least once, but "doesn't do" chicken nuggets. We got drive-thru after church because Husband had to go STRAIGHT to work, and figured a 20-piece nuggets would take care of everyone - and got a small fry in case Kittyboy went vegetarian on us. Kittyboy took ONE (1) nugget. He then held it in his mouth for at least 20 minutes. Child-feeding trick I learned from a VET, used to get dogs and cats to swallow pills - rub the throat in a downward motion, it triggers a swallow reflex. It works in humans too; rub down across your adam's apple and I just about guarantee you will swallow. We used to do that after every bite he took, as a matter of course, because he wouldn't necessarily swallow otherwise. So I did that, repeatedly, but of course he couldn't swallow something he hadn't chewed, and there IS no chew reflex, just rubbing his cheeks and jaw to remind him there's something in his mouth. He did swallow it at some point, long after I'd given up. That was his one nugget. Good thing we got fries. Kittyboy's just not a big fan of meat, that's all there is to it. Not a bad thing, just something that requires more flexibility and planning sometimes.
Well, I should get going now, I'm cleaning the house to hopefully have Father come over for a house blessing for the new year. At the start of '07, everything was falling apart, I was recovering from the c-section and all, and at the start of '08, we just couldn't seem to get things nice enough to feel comfortable having Father over. A house blessing is EVERY room, so it includes the rooms into which you usually shove everything when someone comes over! But this year, we are determined. The first Sunday of Lent, if not beforehand, Father IS coming. And the house WILL be clean. I swear.