12 days

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

No, a different 12 days :P There's 12 days until my baptism. I'm counting down, 'cause I can.

Yesterday was less mental, but I was even more exhausted by last night than I was the night before. I think this is because I had two very full days in a row - not necessarily full for another person, but for me, very.

Yesterday I had DL in the morning, but Jeremy was late so we worried that we'd miss the matins psalms, and so we tried desperately to remember the numbers and I pulled my pocket bible out of my handbag, and read them on the way. Then we got there, and they hadn't even started, despite our being at least 15 minutes late...lol...
After Church they had a felafel lunch, with crunchy pickles in the wrapped up felafel...oh yum. We sat around and talked, and ate, and then there was someone there who doesn't have a car, recently arrived from Lebanon, and he needed to go to the big shopping centre (mall) that is sort of in the direction of my house, so Jeremy and I drove him there. We had a great conversation about history, Islam, whether religion matters in politics or not, Lebanon in general, and varying other things. On the drive back to Jeremy's place for the afternoon he and I talked about the charismatic christian (ie pentecostal, but not necessarily denomination-wise) world that I grew up in, and rules for things like speaking in tongues in Church etc etc. I grew up charismatic, but no longer agree with most of what I grew up with, but Jeremy was lutheran and thoroughly non-charismatic at that, so it was weird to talk about it all.
Back at Jeremy's he went off to read a book, and his sister had members of her netball team there, and they were going to watch a movie so I asked if I could come watch, and being told yes I plonked myself down on the floor. It was "Stomp the Yard" - totally plot-less, really, but awesome dancing, and that's why we were watching it.

Later in the afternoon Jeremy and I left for church again - Vespers at one of the Greek churches we don't usually go to, but is incredibly beautiful inside...I love fully painted Orthodox Temples (strictly speaking, the building is a 'temple', ναός, not a 'church' (ie the body of people), εκκλησία, though the greeks are slack with calling it a church too) and this one is one of the nicer ones I've seen. It was advertised as being in english, but most of the people there were oldies...and the bishop was there..so greek it was. Oh well. I love vespers, especially the Sunday night one during lent when they turn all the lights off after the sunset hymn, and the priest changes his vestments from light (joyful, for Sunday is a feast of the resurrection) to dark (sorrow, for lent), and the altar cloth gets changed too, behind the shut royal doors. Just...beautiful.
After that, there was going to be a lecture in the hall but it was in greek and my little group of friends thought...hmmm....no. Jeremy and I don't speak greek well enough to have understood, and the others expected it to be really academic so Jo, her friend, Illia, Jeremy and I went for coffee nearby, and talked, and ranted, and laughed, and I ate a foccacia with smoked salmon and cream cheese on it because Jeremy told me to, and we left to go get our cars. When we came back, Father was getting in his car - he hadn't been there during the service, presumably because he had Vespers at his own church, and he was about to pull out from the curb when we as a group walked up the the car in his lane. He half pulled out, looked at us...and reversed back in. We all chatted to him through the window, and then he had to go so we got out of the way. We met another priest in the carpark (parking lot) too, but I was totally exhausted and about to fall over so we couldn't stay to talk long...came home...and I crashed.

Today I've basically been sleeping, and lying in bed. I'm trying to rest as much as possible, taking it very easy. I need time to let my body recover. This weekend has been so worth it though, I have the best group of friends, and family, ever.