Happy Friday!

Ginger, one of my favorite Southern Bloggers, has this
recipe for you.

Please, make it and tell me how it tastes.

Donuts, oh donuts! you are my downfall.

St. Casserole

The Mayor of Contiguous City declared this week that seven more years are needed to recover from Katrina. The first two years were clean-up the debris years. The third and fourth years are re-build the infrastructure and the next six would be building housing and businesses.



Imagine what it is like to be a pastor down here.




The debris may be cleaned up in most places but not all. People's spirits and sense of themselves are fractured still. Admits to the psych hospital, behavioral programs and, even the medical hospitals are up. What is inside comes out.




You may be exhausted with my story of life here. I imagine I seem to be mewing endlessly.



My work is nurturing pastors and caregivers around me. This is what I do until I can't face people myself.



St. Casserole, counting the days until the BE

Books Read 2008

Excellent Women, Barbara Pym Enjoyed this book.

Many, many thanks to those of you who sent donations for Little Church. I'm in the dark about who you are unless you've told me. I do know that your response is generous.

We are ready to start with repairs. We don't have all the money we need but we are beginning.

Thank you!

Love,

St. Casserole

Ask the Captain

Dear Captain,
What should I know about going on a cruise?
---Confused

Dear Confused,



The most difficult part of a cruise is getting on the ship and off the ship. You wait in line for a good while to have your identification papers approved and enter the ship. Once there, you go to your cabin. The staff brings your luggage to your cabin. There is an emergency drill time where you put on a smelly life jacket (from your cabin), go to your assigned area, learn how to wear the jacket and what to do if the ship has a problem. This drill frightens some but just live through it. After it is over, you take your jacket back to your cabin and resume having fun.




Getting off the ship takes time, too. You are told what time to have your luggage packed and outside of your cabin on the departure date. You sit around doing nothing until your number is called, then you stand in line declaring purchases and sins for customs to re-enter the States.




Your travel agent will have luggage tags for you to place on your luggage for admittance to the ship.




Here's an important tip: your cruise costs are paid before you board the ship. Except!!!! Any alcoholic drinks, sodas*, gee-haws from the onboard shops and tips for staff are not included. Your cruise card (given when you go through processing) is used to pay for alcoholic drinks, salon visits, gift shop purchases). You don't carry money or credit cards.




Drink purchases include a tip for the server.




Coffee, tea (iced and hot) and powdered fruit drink stuff is available for no charge. You PAY FOR DIET COKES.




Some cruises include the staff tips in the cruise price. Other cruises expect you to pay a per diem tip for your cabin steward, wait staff and, for some reason, the Dining Hall King. If you don't have cash, you can charge these tips.




The Captain, no picture this time, you girls got too delighted with the last post + picture!

*soda is yankee for "soft drinks"

Ask the Captain

Dear Captain,

I've never been on a cruise before. Does the ship move much? Will I get seasick?

---Rev. Daunted

Dear D.,

Cruise ships are quite large. You may feel some motion but the anti-roll thingies keep the ship steady. People wear those dots behind their ears if they feel as if they will get sick. Bring some with you because trips to the ship's doctor cost extra.
The best thing to do is to get on the ship and have 1 drink, not 47 tiny-umbrella-fruit-juice-I'm-on-a-Cruise!!!! drinks. It's fun to watch people climb up the plank and race to the restaurant to eat as though they've never eaten before, then hit the bars and drink until they are stupid. I think those people get queasy.
I get a tad peaked when I go sailing with St. Casserole and she is at the rudder. She is a faulty sailor, at best. I think you'll do fine on the big cruise ship.

Captain

Dear Aunt Bostick,

I'm going to the RGBP BE next month. Any advice? Missing you, St.Casserole

Dear St. Casserole,

It's wonderful to hear from you. Just yesterday, I was telling Beulah Lynch the story about how you wore your vestments inside out and we laughed our heads off. Really, dear, your escapades keep us in stitches. I must remember to tell her about the time you fell out of your shoes while preaching! Keep her in your prayers; she's got competition this year for the Presidency of the Baptist Drum and Hymn Sing Association. I'm concerned her hives will act up because the stress .

I've got several things to pass on about the BE. First, get the idea of the "Love Boat" out of your head. No one dresses up for cruises anymore unless they are crossing the Atlantic. You can wear sleep pants, bedroom slippers and that ratty T-shirt and no one will care. I'm not sure people will notice. On the big dining nights, if your BE has one, be prepared to see people wearing everything from old bridesmaid dresses to bathing suit cover-ups in the dining room.

In my day, we dressed to ride airplanes. Now people look like they are on their way to the kitchen when they fly. Don't worry about your clothing. Cheesehead will be dressed better than you anyway.

Several of the RGBP gals will be exhausted from travel before they get on the ship. Help them get some rest so they can enjoy the speaker and meetings. I want all of you gals to relax, let down your hair and just be happy.

I know you talked Cheesehead into letting you room with her. Do I need to remind you to leave her things alone? Her make-up is her make-up, not yours. Try not to talk as much as you have the past few visits with her. She may want to have a thought or two without you yapping at her. Let her visit with her other friends, this isn't junior high school where you tried to pal around every second with Diane Gunn and drove her crazy. Let Cheesehead be Cheesehead without you hovering around like a crazed fly.

I hear that the speaker is going to be fabulous. Take notes so you can tell me what she says. Be sure to thank her for coming to the RGBPs because not everyone wants to be with a jiving group of clergywomen. Very few, in fact.

I hope everyone has a great time. I do not want to read about any of you in the newspaper. Try to let the other passengers get enough sleep.

Lovingly,

Aunt Bostic

The proper homiletical accountrement for sermon writing:



in Winter, the pink bathrobe with coffee stains and big pockets. In Spring and Summer, the beltless blue seersucker thrift store robe



highlighters and theUniball gold pen with teeth marks



quiet, no phone calls



cats, only if sleeping and off papers



coffee, iced tea or diet coke unless one is drinking water during Lent



do not brush your hair*



Bibles, exegetical research materials, books of poetry, P.J. James and a newspaper**



St. Casserole

*if you brush your hair, you may be tempted to run out of the house
**you-know-who suggested this

The Entire Issue of the Apple Fritter

With apologies to PPP who says I cannot tell a "short" story.


On my way in 72 degree weather to a called meeting of presby, I stopped at the bakery near the Walmart near the Wiggins. I rationalized that I eschewed sugar and fat-filled anything so well that I could risk this faraway bakery stop.


Wrong.


I ate an apple fritter filled with so much sugar and grease that I glided into the meeting sugar-contorted.



That's it. No more junk sugar stuff for me. Makes me tired. The issues before us at the meeting were troublesome. I'd begun praying for guidance on the issue days before but woke up yesterday morning realizing that no answer surfaced. Perhaps the fellowship would help me.



We met for two hours, not a long time for us, and left with a decision which made sense to me.



During the meeting, the sanctuary was pounded by rain. The drive home, now 57 degrees, was a
deluge. Mr. C. called to caution me to drive carefully. LD called to see if I was o.k.



My new phone was set so low I missed the important call.
LS went to the university clinic to get help.
He'd been unable to keep anything down and became dehydrated.
The clinic sent him to the emergency room where they gave him liquids and watched him.



I didn't know this until I got home. I didn't know that I need to go back to University town (where we met as a presby.) to see my boy.



Word came last night that he was doing better. Poor fellow! I recall becoming dehydrated in college and feeling dreadful. One of his frat buddies is a nurse at the hospital and agreed to check on LS.


I came home and went to bed at 7:30pm. Too tired and sugared out to stay awake.



All because of my bad judgement about an apple fritter.


St. Casserole, humbled

2 Years 5 Months 13 Days after Katrina

Here's what I've heard since Friday:

I've gained 25 lbs. since the Storm. I guess we were denied for so long that we keep "treating" ourselves. ---BSL resident

We've had another "Katrina Spike" at the hospital. ---hospital administrator

I went to the Coast. I can't go back, it's too sad. How can you live there? ---lawyer upstate

I can't cry. I can't eat. My stomach hurts. ---friend

I know I have PTSD. I just try to go on with it. ---friend

This is my life and the life of those around me for miles and miles. Everyday, we cope with the aftermath. The above comments aren't complaints. Just stating the facts.

St. Casserole

The Entire Issue of Procrastination

Last week, I got up early and walked to the kitchen to make coffee. It was dark outside.

After the coffee finished brewing, I poured a cup of dark roast Community coffee into my RevGalBlogPals mug and headed back to the study. For sermon prep.

After several minutes of distracted deep thoughts about Lent 1 A, I returned to the kitchen (mug in hand) for more coffee. On the way, I tripped over the hall runner near the bookcases. Sister runs through the house and, sometimes, the rug gets flipped over. I tripped on the runner and shot coffee on the floor. Or, so I thought.

I returned to my study. For sermon prep.

After another round of distracted deep thoughts on the task of preaching to the people, I got up for more coffee. As I walked past the bookcases, I looked down to check where I'd dripped coffee earlier. I saw coffee on the floor and sprayed on the bookcase.

Taking a damp cloth, I cleaned up the drips on the wood floor. I wiped up coffee fling spots off the bookcase and wall. Then I thought, "gee, wouldn't it be fun to color coordinate the books in this bookcase? Keeping books in order in this eclectic reading household is worthless anyway. Too many topics."

I reminded myself that I was working on my sermon. I thought deep thoughts.

The phone began to ring. I took call after call and while I yapped or was yapped at, I re-arranged the bookcase.

All this for sermon prep. I'm sure.

St. Casserole

Happy Mardi Gras!

We celebrate Mardi Gras big-time here. Kids are out of school Monday through Wednesday to go to parades, balls and stalk the streets.

The grocery stores are stripped of beer, cokes and King Cakes.

Three parades roll in Biloxi today. One or two in Gulfport, I think. Up and down the Coast people are catching throws at parades, drinking too much and eating as much party food as they can stand.

Some park and walk to the parade routes. Others put RVs on the route then spend the night holding their place. Most of 90 in Biloxi is cordoned off by the police to protect the route. Best seats to see the bands and floats are in front of City Halls where the bigwigs invite the powerful to catch beads, eat and drink.

Our Mardi Gras is smaller than New Orleans and, maybe, a bit quieter. I hope so because the big truck parades and famous New Orleans parades are fun if you have a safe place to view but horrendous if you are in a jostling crowd of drunks.

My favorite New Orleans parade places to watch are either from the front yard of a St. Charles Ave. home or from the balcony of the Boston Club. Here on the Coast, let me have a place at one of the City Hall stands.

Today, my favorite viewing place is right here at home.

I've enjoyed Mardi Gras for many years and this year, I do not give a hootie about any of it.

LD and Mr. C. are out getting new cell phones and trying (again!) to get LD's learner's permit for driving. Last phone call from Mr. C. said they were #120 in line. The last number called was #89. If Mr. C. is lucky, LD will be distracted by the learner's permit and he won't have to take her to a parade. Mardi Gras isn't the setting to let 15 year olds wander parentless at a parade.
Shoot! I don't want to wander without an escort at the parades either~!

Looks like I don't have to worry about this.

We are going to C. and P's to watch the Super Tuesday returns tonight. This means we can miss the night parades, too.

Eat, drink and be merry, y'all. Tomorrow is Lent.

Call me a curmudgeon,

St. Casserole

Good News!!!

E is the THE MAN!!!

Rev. Bird Dog and his congregation return to their Sanctuary!!! First time back in re-built facilities since the Sunday before Katrina blew through!!!

Mardi Gras parades today!!! Weather will hit 80 degrees!!! Eighty Degrees!!!

Happy as a Cat in the Sunshine,

St. Casserole

Obama Yes We Can