All right, already, I'm on FACEBOOK!

OK. Well, I finally caved in to peer pressure from (my sister) Valerie and my best friend/debate partner Michelle from freshman year in High School, to join Facebook. I've never experienced any peer pressure in my life except for this; it's like giving a jug of whiskey to an alcoholic. I knew it was gonna be trouble!! I have spent WAYYYY too long on there and MUST get my taxes done along with a bunch of other stuff before Sunday and then again before Ash Wednesday. I also stayed up till 4:30 a.m. the other day fixing my best friend's son's computer. Both Bill and I worked on it throughout the evening but it was seriously messed up with viruses, trojan horses, spyware, rootkits, and all kinds of nasty malware. I couldn't sleep later, got up around 1:30 and worked on it until I FINALLY got it cleaned at 4:30 and it should be OK now. I'm getting to be a virus-buster on peoples' computers lately! That's the second one in about a month I've fixed.

Had my 3-month followup with my surgeon, Dr. Oskouei today, and CT scans of my lungs (no contrast this time.) I was at Emory for over 3 hours....wanted to go see "Dialogue in the Dark" and/or the Bodies Exhibition at Atlantic Station before they end on March 1, but I called from the Emory parking lot after I was finished, and the tickets were sold out this afternoon until 4 p.m. for "Dialogue" (and nothing today for "Bodies.")

Anyway, my scans came out clean, praise God!! My next ones will be May 22: a CT (no contrast) of my lungs, and an MRI with contrast of my left leg (this will be the first one since before I had surgery last August.)

Other good news this week is that Bill's annulment was granted and he finally got the letter from the Archdiocese in the mail. I really don't know what I would have done without him during my health crisis last year. He has really been a sweetheart and a huge help to me.

My youth cantors (5th-7th grade) sing this Sunday at 10:30; we just started after Epiphany and I already have 14 members--we just picked up ANOTHER one on Thursday!! The adults will be at 8:30 for the OCIA Rite of Sending this week. We're excited to be able to sing Mozart's "Ave Verum" now for the 3rd week in a row--at 12:30 a couple of weeks ago for Deacon Joe Carter's first Mass after his ordination to the Permanent Diaconate, then last week at 10:30. I am so proud of them; they really did a great job both times so far. The Children's Choir has about 20 kids, the same number I had in the fall, which is FANTASTIC for the spring--I lost a bunch to other spring activities but gained a bunch, and I retained most of the ones who couldn't attend Thursday rehearsals this spring by forming the youth choir. (They just come 1/2 hour prior to Mass on their singing dates.)

I took some pictures of the adult choir at rehearsal last week and Glen is going to make a slideshow of them singing his setting of Psalm 146: Praise the Lord who heals the brokenhearted. We sang it at Deacon Joe's first Mass and they did a great job of that. Glen was really excited to hear it, and will post it on Youtube for us. That'll be cool.

The day before I posted my last blog entry, I took Sybil to the vet to get her vaccinations since she was overdue, and to also check out a bump on her tail that bothers her when you touch it. Other than that, she's not biting it or anything, but she hadn't seemed herself for a few weeks. She's better now, but the vet said there was a 50-50 chance it could be cancer at her age. It would cost >$500 to get it removed and biopsied, so I opted not to do that since her wellness exam, X-rays and shots cost $400 as it was (and I also had $900 of car repairs--new water pump, thermostat, hoses and belts and other stuff) at the same time. That's why I MUST do my taxes soon so I can get my refund!! Then I'll change my W2 exemptions soon so I can use my money throughout the year instead of Uncle Sam.

Anyway, I don't want to cause Sybil any undue trauma by putting her through surgery since the bump doesn't bother her. If I had the money I might be tempted to have the thing removed; I'd be relieved to find out it's just a cyst or something, but even if it IS cancer, I wouldn't opt to do chemo or radiation--that would be absurd to go through that enormous expense and put her through extra pain and vet visits at her age (14+--she was a ~2-year old stray when she adopted me in 1996, but I don't know exactly how old she is) . From what I've read, cancer treatments don't usually prolong pets' lives very much even when they work. So I hope my little kitten isn't in any pain. Her appetite certainly hasn't suffered! She eats like a hog but I love her so. She's so cute!

Other bad news I heard this week was that the small group of villains still causing trouble at St. James in Mukwonago WI succeeded in pushing Fr. Frank out of the parish. My friend Carol P. called to tell me he was gone all of a sudden last week "on sabbatical" and won't be returning. That is now the FOURTH priest they've done it to, and the second time it's happened to Father Frank since 2006. Please keep my former parish and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in your prayers--they are in deep need of healing. Rumors are flying that Archbishop Dolan will be named Archbishop of New York very soon and he is on track to become a Cardinal. I hope whoever comes into Milwaukee next can clean up the mess that the pre-Dolan bishops created, and although I'm sad that Archbishop Dolan wasn't able to accomplish more there, I'm glad they didn't ruin HIS career; he seems like a very good man. What goes on between the parishes and the Archdiocese there is shocking and sad, and unless you live there, you wouldn't believe some of the corruption I've witnessed, in three separate parishes, and the disobedience to and disrespect for church authority on all levels is rampant. I am so grateful to be OUT of there.