The Meema Files: Preparation, pageantry, and L&C on ice

TGIM. Strange, isn't it? It was a wonderful but crazy weekend, and I'm actually relieved to be back in the weekday routine.

Saturday started with a rehearsal for Lessons & Carols, which morphed into a long lunch with the AnderClan. Boy howdy, but the girls were squirrely! Oh well. It's amazing to watch B and Kidlet together - two peas in a pod. After lunch, Kidlet and I baked four dozen cookies, then made homemade pizza for dinner... bath, bedtime stories and songs, and one tired Meema.

Sunday morning was the children's Christmas pageant at St. Paul's 10:00 service. B and Kidlet were both cast as Mary. That's right - our Jesus had two mommies this year. Woo hoo! B struggles a bit with stage fright, but lasted much longer than previous years; Kidlet presented the baby at the end of the story while B looked on from the safety of Caytie and Mark's laps.

I've spoken many times on the love I have for my church choir. A feistier bunch of singers there isn't. Hearty, too, as yesterday would prove; Minneapolis was treated to a delightful winter rain which promptly froze as the temperatures dipped in the afternoon, just in time for our service.

Our annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols was not as well attended as hoped, but those who braved the elements were enthusiastic and received a heckuva musical experience, IMHO. The choir sang so. freakin'. well. We performed Benjamin Britten's "Hymn to the Virgin", for which the four section leaders sang antiphonally from across the nave. I was blown away with how solid and sensitively the choir sang (YAY ALTOS!!!). Several other transcendent moments took my breath away.

The wonderful thing about singing in an Episcopal church is that we know how to put on a spread. Note the lovely traditional English Tea reception:

Following the festive gathering in the undercroft, Richard and Brian annually host a gathering even more festive in their Arts & Crafts bungalow. How festive, you may ask? Feast your peepers...