protest...

Uhm... so I am rarely ever political on this site... you know, mostly updates on family and health. But, it is kind of driving me nuts... this militant muslim attitude toward Christians. They are allowed to say anything that they want about us but we can't say what we want about them?!?!? Do I hear double standard? And it's not just the militant muslims that do this... look around you... many public schools allow the students to learn about many different faiths around the world but so much as bring up Christianity and a teacher can be suspended.

ok, I'm off the soap box... for now:)

woo hoo!

and more woo hoo!

I have to say that it is bad sportsmanship when only a few American players congrarulate the Greek team...

Response to Katie's blog...

So Katie's blog entry made me think (very dangerous as you read my ramblings below). I wrote a long comment on her blog and then decided to just post it here:

Nowadays, just having a college education will not guarantee that you will have an income to even survive in the US... we have friends that the husband was a teacher and the wife stayed at home and they qualified for WIC and DSHS health care for the children! Both college educated! And what does this say about how we regard teachers... they can't afford to take care of their own families? What does it say about how important our children are when we don't pay teachers a decent salary? I always try to look at things as needs v. wants. We need baby formula. That's a given. We need Paul's insulin and my meds. We didn't WANT to be in the hospital (and meet petros' and my out of pocket deductible for the year), but we need to pay the bill that comes in the mail every month. And sometimes we do need new clothes. or new shoes. The part I struggle with is that I would love to be able to buy the things we need with a minimal effect on the environment (Like what Fr. Paul was talking about in his sermon the other night). Like trying to by things that are not made by slave labor overseas. Or free range meat. Or organic vegetables. BUT when Pavlos needs new shoes and I only have a minimal amount of money to pay for them, what do I do? Most of the time we are fortunate enough to have hand me downs from my nephew and only need to buy a few new items. And right now, I am lamenting that I have two weddings coming up in the next two weeks and I would really like to buy a new dress because I haven't bought a new dress in two years (I did buy two skirts in June, though). I sometimes tear myself apart with should I, shouldn't I?!?! And I read articles about being frugal but I do all of those things they suggest!

I really don't want to complain because we are richer than most people in the world. And we do own our own home. And we choose to send Pavlos to Agia Sophia. And I remember the poor years growing up... but my parents made a decision to send us to private schools, even though we didn't have a lot of money. And they did own their own home and instead of buying a new one, they added two more bedrooms (and my dad didn't take out a loan to build the new rooms... every week, he bought with cash what he could afford to buy... whether it was two nails or another 2x4). And I had a wonderful childhood in a wonderful family... my parents stayed together (and are obviously still together) after 35 years of marriage. And we spent our vacations camping rather than going on exotic trips (OK, we did take a couple of trips to Greece, but my dad went for 14 years without seeing his own parents. Fourteen years! But we went to Greece to see family, not just a whim of a trip). And my granma would make my sister and I really nice dresses that we loved.

OK. I think that's enough. I think that there are more people in our stage of life that struggle financially. They say that we are the first generation that will not be financially better than our parents. I believe it.

Women's Retreat (and other things)...

I have emailed a few of you regarding our women's retreat (asking you to be a contact person for your parish so we can mail you a packet of flyers). Here is information about the retreat on our parish website. You can even register for the retreat online through paypal (and it's five dollars cheaper if you register early). If I did not email you and you would like to be a rep for your parish, please let me know... email me your address (cdblankenstein[at]homtal[dot]com) and I will get a packet in the mail to you. All you need to do is either put the information in your bulletin (monthly, weekly, etc.), post flyers in your church (where permissable), and/or pass flyers to interested women. We are very excited because this year we have Sr. Magdalen (author of Children in the Church Today and Conversations with Children) as our speaker.

Other news...

• Happy Feast Day! It is our parish feast day today.
• Pavlos and Petros are growing, growing, growing:)
• Have seen many movies (V for Vendetta (Petros is currently sporting the bald Natalie Portman look), Everything is Illuminated (saw the movie then read the book, liked the movie and the book but this is one of those rare times that I am glad that I saw the movie before reading the book because there are quite a few differences between book and movie... book is actually stranger than the movie... loved the Ukrainian guy in the movie. He is premium:)... also finished reading the book about the Trapp Family Singers by Maria vonTrapp (you know, the Sound of Music family?!?!?) I enjoyed the book... interesting to read the real story behind the Sound of Music... also been watching snippets of Mary Poppins... this is Pavlos' favorite movie right now and he is constantly doing re-enactments of the movie (especially any of the song and dance numbers).
• we are getting ready for Pavlos to go back to school and for Sunday School to begin. I feel like I am just going, going, going.
• Keep Maria, my niece, in your prayers. She will be having surgery this Friday (she was born with cleft lip and palate... she has already had two surgeries in her four years but this one might be a little bit harder on her because she will know and remember what is happening (does this make sense). She does not remember her other surgeries.

I think that's all for now... hopefully, I will be a better blogger in the future:)

A topic to blog on...

Katie posted SEVEN things that she is grateful for (it's supposed to be at least FIVE) so I'm going to copy her and post what I am grateful for:

• My health and the health of my family: things could have been a lot worse this year and while I will always have health problems, I am currently feeling really well (and I'm so thankful that Pavlos is healthy and Petros was actually born and is healthy, too).
• Our little house with our little FENCED in back yard so Pavlos can go outside and play whenever he wants.
• Family: immediate family, extended family, church family, and friends that are just like family.
• A good haircut (which I don't currently have... but I love the feeling of just getting my haircut)
• And, I have to agree with Katie on a cup of coffee. And, like her, I would probably take a really good cup of coffee over anything sweet (but I wouldn't necessarily say no to something sweet:)

AND I will add a few more...

• A book and/or movie that makes me cry (and, in general, finding a really good movie... very difficult to do these days... everything seems to be remakes of the same ideas or old TV shows that we didn't care that much about in the first place being made into movies)
• can you believe that I haven't written my children as something I'm thankful for?!?!? I know that I wrote about their health... but I guess I was saving the best for last (right). For Pavlos and Petros... I was once told that I would never be able to have children and the children that I do have come at a somewhat high price (I told my mom that pregnancy and I just don't get along AT ALL). So I'm thankful that I have two little boys.
• OH... and I didn't mention anything about my husband (I'm so pathetic). Now I'm really saving the best for last (I should hurry up and put a disclaimer at the top of this that "these are in no particular order of importance" but I will keep it honest...). My husband who has had to go through so much in this last year (with me and Petros) and who's love, generosity and faith keep me centered and grounded.

So, you go out and post what you are grateful for... right now:)

Blogging is...

a fall/winter activity, I have decided. It's a lot more difficult to stay inside on the computer in the summertime than in the winter time.

I have lots of pictures I would like to post, from our camping trip and Pavlos' sunflower that he planted. But I just don't have the time to do it:)

I have lots of things to report... one cute st0ry is that this past weekend we were at my sisters in Seattle for my nephew's birthday. We went to see the Blue Angels do an air show. When we arrived at the freeway, Maria, my niece, exclaimed that she didn't want to see the airplanes, she wanted to see the Blue Angels that fly the airplanes:) Isn't that cute?

That's all for my little update, hope you are all having a wonderful summer (I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't another post on this blog until September;)

Home again...

We are home from our camping trip. It was wonderful. Beautiful weather... went to the coast for a day, went to Olympia for a day (for church and to see Mimi... and, I know, I forgot to give her a jar of homemade jam from my mom:( AAAGGGHHH! We even talked about the jam!). I did about a hundred loads of laundry on Tuesday... everything smelled like campfire. And, right now, I'm suppsed to be periodically checking the Lufthansa website because my uncle is flying in from Greece this morning. Dad wants me to call him the moment the plane lands and he will go pick him up from the airport. Uncle Pete is minus his new wife as there is lots of paperwork to fill out in order to bring her here.

Pavlos loved camping. He almost caught a fish (seriously). Paul did not fish as the out of state fishing license is pretty steep. And we enjoyed celebrating my sister's birthday at our campsite on Saturday... complete with chocolate chocolate chocolate cake that mom brought. Petros didn't know what we were doing, but he took everything in stride (even the bath I gave him in the washtub).

Anyone see the movie Serenity? We got it from the library. Interesting. I guess it was first a TV series that didn't make it and somehow it was made into a movie. We have never seen the TV show... we just checked out the movie because someone recommended it to me a long time ago. Basic premise... man cannot create a utopian society without taking away a person's free will. Or am I reading too much into the movie (hee hee)?!?!? So, it was interesting.

A few weeks ago we rented (we go back and forth between renting newer movies from Blockbuster and checking out other movies from the library) The World's Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins. It was very funny and very good. Based on a true story. Anthony Hopkins' character was the most down to earth, laid back kind of guy... nothing got him down. But he had determination to make his one dream come true. And he was so friendly... everyone liked him. The other movie we rented was Syriana... kind of opposite to The World's Fastest Indian. Syriana is a very serious movie... seemed more like a documentary the way it was filmed. It is one of those I-need-a-week-to-digest-this-movie kind of movie. Definitely not light-hearted fun.

Hopefully, I will have some pictures up of our camping trip. Now we are waiting for the Summer Heat Wave 2006 to hit Portland. Ooh, I'm excited (not really). I am not a big fan of heat. Paul wants to spend Saturday at the coast (no Vesper's Saturday evening because Fr. is coming home from the Clergy/Laity on Saturday evening). We'll see. I think everyone else in the city will be going to the coast, too. I am not a big fan of crowded beaches. But, I am also not a big fan of heat:)

OH... one of our former clients made it to the front page of the Oregonian newspaper on Monday (or was it Sunday). I will try to see if I can find a link to the article about him. I can't promise anything, though.... I'm supposed to be watching the Lufthansa website, you know:)

I only have eyes for mommy....

Petros is in the best baby stage... when all he wants to do is look at me and "talk" to me or have me talk or sing to him. I love it. Pavlos is in the stage where he skipped from being four years old to a 13 year old... he wipes away kisses. Didn't know that I could be so embarassing for him:(

We are going camping... leaving this evening and coming back on Monday. We are going west of Olympia so we will check out Ascension church in Olympia on Sunday and go out to lunch with my blogging friend, Mimi:) On Saturday, my mom is going to drive up to our "site" from Portland, my sister and her two children are going to drive down from Seattle, and my Uncle Jeff (mom's youngest brother) is going to drive east from I forget where (he lives on the Washington coast). Paul wonders if we are actually going to be on vacation:) he he he... It will be good to see my uncle as we haven't seen him in almost a year and that was at my brother's wedding which was not a great place for catching up (too much going on).

If you happen to be in the Portland area or are just interested in goings on at St. John's... we are having our annual dinner/fundraiser for our church building fund on Sunday July 23. Here is a link to buy tickets through PayPal. It was a lot of fun last year!

Pray for events in the middle east....

Chronia Polla!!!!

Oh foremost of the apostles and teachers of the world
Interced ye to the Master of all
that He may grant peace to the world
and great mercy to our souls


Ok, big feast day in my family. Happy Name Day to my dad (Petros), my husband (Paul), my sons (Pavlos and Petros), my nephew (Pavel) and my father in law (Fr. Paul... May his Memory be Eternal). Normally, my parents would probably have had one of their famous lamb roasts this Saturday (their own version of a Panayiri) but we just had Petros' baptism a few weeks ago... just can't do two lamb roasts in one month:) So, maybe next year... It is also my brother in laws birthday today.
One interesting thing to note is that after my sister and I named our sons after St. Paul, dad told us that his great great grandfather was named Pavlos. The name didn't get passed down because the family did not want to name a son after the other grandfather. So we have re-introduced the name back into our family without even knowing it! (my mom's grandfather and uncle were also named "Paul" but they were not very nice men and so we just try to forget about them:)

"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"

Pavlos' new favorite album is a Johnny Cash greatest hits... although we may have to cut back on him listening to Folsom Prison Blues as it sounds a little funny hearing him run around the house singing, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Pavlos' real favorite song is Ring of Fire... he even made up hand motions to go along with the song:)

We were at the monastery this last weekend... very nice. Although I am selfish and would rather be there when no one else is there... too many people. Papa Herman has pictures on his blog (he didn't take them as he wasn't there). Pavlos is not pictured in the picture of the kids ringing the smaller bells, but he "helped" ring the bigger bell:) It was very hot and we spent a lot of time with the goats (hopefully, not the goats that Christ separates from the sheep).

In other news... my uncle Pete is getting married. This is big news as he is a confirmed bachelor of 48 or 49 years of age. We can't believe it. He is in Greece right now. I think my new aunt is a couple of years younger than me. We are very excited and happy for him. Seriously, we never thought this day would come. And, in fact, he has 3 nieces and a nephew that are married before him:) This is an answer to my yiayia's prayers (she passed away last October... May her memory be eternal). I know that while she was alive she prayed constantly that Pete would get married... her prayers in heaven are more powerful because he's getting married!!! I might just have first cousins that are 34 years younger than me (and younger than my own children). Only in crazy Greek families:)

Another Something I have Learned Since Becoming a Mommy...

The organizational status of a kitchen towel drawer does not mark the end of the world. Sometimes it is better if I just let things slide (which is hard to do for an organizational type person such as myself... I value and crave CONTROL which, when having children, means you lose a lot of).

Paul and Pavlos have dropped me off at my parents' home. They are driving to the monastery today. Petros and I will be going tomorrow morning with my parents. Yesterday I ran into two of the nuns from the monastery at Costco. This is the second time I have run into them there. It's kind of funny, for lack of a better word, to see them at Costco. And surprising. Especially because yesterday it was two of the nuns from Greece and I know there is nothing like Costco in Greece. I saw them as they were walking out and I was walking in. So, through the rest of my trip in Costco I thought what it would be like for them to walk through that gigantic store full of bulk items and $2000 TVs. And it's always interesting to run into them in the public... they always look the same while I have my specific clothes for church/monastery and my everday clothes (not that I was wearing anything outrageous... just some capri pants and a t-shirt oh, and a baby in a bjorn). I wasn't embarassed, but it made me think (which can be a trying thing to do for my baby brain).

So, I'm at my parents' home, baby is asleep, and I actually have time to write a blog. I have just finished reading Touching Heaven by John Oliver. He writes about his experience with the Theotokos. I have always been curious... as a cradle Orthodox I have never doubted or questioned the role of the Mother of God... it just seems so natural the role she plays in the Church (and I'm not implying that just by being a cradle Orthodox, one does not question... I'm sure there are plenty of cradles that struggle with this issue... I just never did and neither has Paul...). And I don't think that Roman Catholic converts have the difficulties in honoring the Theotokos as the Theotokos (birthgiver of God). So, if you are a convert or a cradle who has struggled with this idea... how did you get through it? Maybe you are still struggling with it, I don't know. Maybe I haven't struggled with it because my yiayia (grandma) was always praying to the Panagia to protect her grandchildren. It just seems to me such a natural thing... to honor the woman who gave birth to Christ. I mean, God would only choose someone worthy of that calling. And I know that a lot of Protestantism is really an attempt to put off anything that might at all resemble Catholicism. But to completely disregard the Theotokos?!? And, even snub her (as I have heard/read some people do) seems so, uhm, I don't know what word to use, uhm, incomprehensible to me (whew... that's a ten dollar word, especially from my little brain). Anyway, if you have thoughts on this, please, post away!!!

I think this is a long enough blog entry. I'm going to try to download a picture from the baptism for you all to see... might take me a few minutes:)

UPDATE: Ok, a picture of Petros with his godparents and Fr. Theodore. I look like I just ate something that tasted bad... oh well:)

A Good Movie..

I think for every good movie we watch, we must see a couple of not so great ones. I won't write about the not so great movies:) but we recently rented The Syrian Bride which was very good... both funny and sad at the same time. I enjoyed it. And I re-watched My Left Foot yesterday while writing thank you notes for Pavlos' birthday and Petros' baptism. I had not seen it since it first came out, 16 years ago or something like that:) Thanks, Dawn, for writing movie recommendations which prompted me to just link these two movies I recently watched:)

What I've learned since becoming a mommy... and other updates

If you have a four year old boy, just leave the toilet seat up at all times. It makes life easier (and you won't ever sit in a "puddle").

Other Updates:

• Last Saturday was Petros' baptism. He literally cried for a second and then just looked around at what was going on. It was beautiful. I didn't cry, but I warned Paul the night before that I might cry. You see, Petros' baptism was one of those future events that kept me going in the hospital... as in I would say to my self when I was really feeling down or yucky, "by the time this baby is baptized, everything will be ok." And it really is ok. We had a lovely party at my parents home complete with lamb on a spit (and my dad hung the Greek flag on the garage a la My Big Fat Greek Wedding). It was a beatiful day.
• Pavlos' last day of school is Friday. I don't know what I am going to do with him this summer. Mom is suggesting some community center classes. I will look into that. I know that we can spend one day a week at the zoo, at least. He will be going back to pre-K in the fall. We are very pleased with the school and with his teacher.
• We are going to the monastery for their feast day (anyone else going to go... we'll meet you there:).
• My sister and brother in law are moving in the next few weeks and celebrating their 11 year wedding anniversary. Congrats to them. In this day and age 11 years is almost a miracle (and, boy, does that make me feel old... they were married a few weeks after I graduated from college).
• I just finished reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Very interesting book. One of those magical realism type books with a strong emphasis on the realism part. And through out the book I actually felt like magic existed in England. I love it when authors put in fake footnotes and cite non-existent books, very realistic. It was a very interesting read...
• uhm, that might be all for now... I have to stop and think for a moment...

AAWWW, yes, I have something to say... I have been reading people's blogs, but haven't been putting in too many comments. I just don't feel like I have the time right now. So, please know, my faithful few readers, that I am reading your blogs:) And keep writing...

I thought of something else to add... we are on the family cell phone plan with my parents (they have two phones), my sister (she has one phone), and Paul and I (we have two phones). Dad upgraded the phones recently. Now, none of us are big cell phone users. I pretty much just keep mine in the car. And I know for sure that my sister can't even remember her pin number to access her messages (it's been that long since anyone has left her a message). So, anyway, Dad upgraded the phones. Dad's great at finding deals and we are all proud owners of the Motorola SLVRL7. This phone does everything. It has a camera. It connects to the web (for a fee so we won't be doing that), it can hold 110 songs (I believe that's how many... it could be more). And, according to my brother who knows such things, this is a "flippin' cool phone". Uhm, ok. I don't think I have ever been this cool in my life...

On Yesterday, Six Years Ago...

Rob/Paul and I were married. Happy Anniversary!!! We went out to dinner and saw the movie Water. It was very good. Mom and dad watched the kids. Today is Katie and Steve's one year anniversary. Happy Anniversary!!!

What a big year for us... baby, bought a new home, moved into the hospital for a while, lost a spleen... always something going on. I don't have time to post more thoughts because the baby is starting to cry. Maybe I will try to write more later (not today, probably, we are going to a dinner tonight).

On This Day, Three Years Ago...

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O Christ our God, You ascended in Glory and gladdened Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Your blessing assured them that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Second Tone
O Christ our God, upon fulfilling Your dispensation for our sake, You ascended in Glory, uniting the earthly with the heavenly. You were never separate but remained inseparable, and cried out to those who love You, "I am with you and no one is against you."

On this day, three years ago, we were in Greece for the Ascension, at the church of the Ascension on the island of Ios (where my dad is from). The church is one of our family churches (our other church is to St. Petros). It is a very small church. When I asked my Aunt Ourania how old is the church... she replied, "very old." I said, "no, really how old? One hundred, two hundred years?" She, again, replied, "very old." So I am going to assume that this church is probably 500 or more years old because the "new" addition on my grandparents home is 2oo years old! Hope you like the pictures!!! And remember I'm really bad at posting pictures so if they are in a weird order, please forgive me:)