Pinkeye!

OK, I know it's weird to be happy to have pinkeye, but it's not bugging me much at all, and I get to be off work today and tomorrow. This is a nice little break.

Keeping my distance from unwary folk, I did go check out the Cathedral on the way home. It's... not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I'm still a Notre Dame type girl, and I never would have chosen this, but it's okay. I do hate the artwork of the Stations of the Cross, and the towering Christ made of points of light behind/above the altar is a bit creepy IMHO, but the wood is beautiful, the light is nice (although I'm a fan of dark churches actually), and some of the side chapels, with rich-toned traditional art, are beautiful. The placement of the tabernacle is traditional, so you can face the altar and genuflect, which is nice. (At my parish you're at an angle of up to 90 degrees if you're next to your pew and you want to genuflect in the direction of the tabernacle.)

There was a docent giving a VERY LOUD AND ECHOING tour, which was distracting, but I just plugged my ears when I went into the Adoration Chapel. It's right behind the altar and the other side of the tabernacle faces in there. Oddly, as I knelt there, a Brother (Dominican, I think) in full habit and a non-habited man came and stood beside me, banging something around... possibly the pole of a flag or candle stand or something. One thing I am always surprised by is how people -- even, apparently, vowed and habited religious -- aren't quiet in churches, even when people are praying. The exception is the parish where I sometimes attend the Latin Mass. They're quiet. It's great.

But anyway, the brother and his friend left quickly and went into the sacristy off the chapel, and I finished praying, looked at the side chapels down the other side of the nave, and then went to see the bookstore. It's still not very well-stocked, though there were some lovely crucifixes. I have one in my bedroom of olive wood, made by Palestinian Catholics and with a little vial of soil from the Holy Land in it. Otherwise, the only other one I have is a heavy cardboard version of a San Damiano crucifix. Someday I'll get a pretty one for the hallway. Not before Christmas, though!

I'm sure I'll be back, especially after the adjoining cafe opens. When I was Episcopalian, I used to go to the Grace Cathedral bookshop and get a coffee at the little stand they had in the hall outside. My ex-husband said they made the best mochas. I am looking forward to picking up a book and then going to have some caffeine and a snack next door.

I wonder if he still has/displays the icons he got at Grace. And what his current wife thinks if he does...

I came home and managed to get the Rx drops in my eyes. I don't touch my eyes, nothing goes in my eyes, I get queasy thinking of eyes. I did OK, though, and they feel better.

So, just a passel of Christmas knitting tonight and tomorrow. I'm glad I can futz around til late tonight, and sleep in, and knit and read. On my agenda:

Item A for family member
Item B for other family member
Cabled coffee sleeves for my immediate co-workers
A cabled scarf for a good friend in another department

I am now definitely on a schedule!