Life with the Three Crazy Dogs

See this picture on the left?  This is what the church I go to looks like.  Super boring in my book.  It’s too contemporary for me.  Even the church I go to on and off  in Ipoh looks more like a Catholic church.  

I chose this current church is because it’s closer to my home and its RICA program does not run like the school system….starts in the fall only which is September. This church’s RCIA program starts anytime of the year.

This current church I am going to now has the font at the entrance as you enter the church, the alter in the front and to the right of the picture is the choir. The font is also the holy water…this font is the immersion font. During baptism, the whole body will be immersed, dunked in the font. This is one I was very surprise to learn. Thought baptisms are done in just a small little font where the priest will pour water on the head. But whatever what the font looks like, I don’t really fancy how the church carries out the mass. In my book, it’s not the traditional mass I’m so used to see and experienced.

I always thought the Catholic church has altar boys but this church tarak ada!! The priest still the last to walk but kids (male or female) are sort of the altar boy(s). Super threw me off.  I have been telling my sponsor how not traditional this church is.  She totally agreed with me and that is why her hubby left this church to another more traditional one in St Paul.  I told my sponsor I will hang on till I’m done with the RCIA program…then I will look for a different more traditional church. 

This current church reminds me of a college auditorium.  DB has no interest in this chuch at all.  So I’m still in a journey to look for a church I really like.

Last Sunday was the first time I stepped into one of the two cathedrals in Minnesota, the Catheral St Paul. 

Picture taken while still inside the bus….

The Cathedral sits up on much higher grounds across the state Capitol….you can see a column with a green man in the middle of the picture….that man is Archbishop John Ireland…the founder of the Cathedral St Paul at the current site.  (Prior to this huge cathedral, there were 3 others, very much smaller.  You can read the history if you are interested.) 

The trip was part of the RCIA program I’m in now.  The trip is for the celebration of Rite of Election.  I was so pumped coz I got to go to the cathedral and meeting the Archbishop face to face for the first time. 

Archbishop Harry Flynn (retired) and me

The entire mass and rite was beautiful..  But my whole attention was mainly checking out the inside of the cathedral.  Damn, it was just beautiful…especially the dome above the Sanctuary….the dove…the Holy Spirit.

The stain glass windows…

The many statues of Saints and Apostles…

…St. John

The old fashion pews..

The Sanctuary…

And the one that really caught me deep in my heart is this……the Pieta..it got me choked up. It’s a replica of the original Peita in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.  This replica was put into this Cathedral during the Lenten season.

The Pieta sits right infront of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart…

The Bishop’s chair…

And here is me, trying to take a picture of myself…crappy picture indeed.

Another shot of the Sanctuary…not a good shot either…

The main dome…

And confession boxes like this one line up on each end of the cathedral…

The first time I actually see a confession box….the name of the priest place outside the door to the box. It’s dark inside like you see them in movies….it’s kinda creepy, honestly.

These are some of the pictures that turned out good with my archaic camera.   The cathedral’s website has a photo album if you want to see better pictures.

Chinese New Year is here, yet I don’t feel the CNY mood at all….not a single bit.  There is no such thing here as a Chinatown crap in Minnesota.  Asian stores, yes, there are but the atmosphere is not the same.    Honestly I forgot about CNY till  I started getting all these “CNY card requests” on FB and started to hunt down the actual CNY date.  Pathetic, isn’t it?  This is where I remember my dad so much…come every December he will mail me the race horse calender.  I will have the calendar right smack in the kitchen.

DB’s and I don’t do anything for CNY either.  My friend, Simmie, invited me over to her home last Saturday, Feb 20th, for a CNY gathering amongst her Malaysian/Indonesian/Minneostan friends. It was a nice gathering. DB was suppose to go with me, my driver, but i gave my crud to him thus he was sicker than I was. He got me the directions and I got there save and sound. Small little group but a very lovely group. We had the Malaysian thing of “lou sang”, too! The 2 hot pots were going good….so much food – meatballs, fishballs, chicken meat, shrimp, wantons, dumplings, pork, duck, veggies and so much cookies! I filled my belly up good although I think I didn’t really eat that much coz of my lingeing cold that sort killed my appetite the whole week. I thought I would need to hunt for some weight loss products, hah, guess I don’t need to coz the next morning I was starving….could feel it all the way to my back bone!

Yeah, so this year CNY albeit no mood for it, but the few hours spent with fellow countrymen on CNY, made a difference. Met and made new friends.  Thanks Simmie for the good food and company.

My friend, Simmie, a fellow Malaysian, invited me to her CNY gathering at her house tomorrow. Thank goodness I’m getting back to my feet from the stupid cold. Yes, it’s going to be a a big feast where fat loss pills will be needed after or before! Nah, I don’t think I will resort to pills but will power will do. Since it’s the Lenten season, I had decided to fast on Fridays morning till dusk but with the cold and absurd cough still hanging on me, I am not going to.   Actually DB and I are working on swearing less during this Lenten season and hopefully after 46 days, the cussings coming from us will be less to none and will stay that way!

Yesterday was the longest drive home ever for me since I started with company. It took me 1 hour 15 minutes to get home which normally takes 25 minutes max.   It started snowing early Thursday morning and by the time it was time to get home at 2:30 pm, snow was lighter and the sun was outl.  Really weird.

There was an accident on 35E South the freeway I use Monday thru Friday back and forth.  The moment I took the exit to 35E South, I came to a halt.  Me and other cars ahead of me sat there for about 15 minutes before we actually made a tiny move.  Good thing I took a pee before I left work.

So what you do when you sit in the car with n0thing to do…take pictures lah.  Don’t have my camera with me, so have to use the phone camera.  Not good pictures tho.   While taking pictures, tow trucks, State troopers and city cop cars’ zoomed by the shoulder of the freeway. When I finally got out to 35, the battle to merge with the cars already in the lane….hate that but this nice old man let me in….bless his kind heart.

Sat there for another couple mintues and finally started to creep/brake till I saw the colorful flashing lights from the cop cars and that’s where the cars in front me merged to the left lane (middle lane).  Put on the blinkers but no one let me in…..of coz I started cussing lah, KNN!!!  Finally after 4 vehicles passed me, a lady stopped to let me merge.  So sweet of her….bless her kind heart! :)

After this shot, I dared not take anymore….cops were everywhere plus sirens firing behind me – paramedics, fire truck and more paramedics. As soon as I got closer to the accident scene, it looked mighty nasty, I recognized the spot where accidents always occur. It’s the bend before Difley Road exit. Must be a “bad” spot! :)  Cantonese word “chaay”, with a descending tone.  Don’t know, I saja only.

The accident involving a tanker (don’t see any damage on that sucker); a Toyota pickup with the windshield and passenger window totally shattered; a car sitting in the ditch with the front bumper and hood smashed like a pancake; and another car sitting up in the tow truck bed with damage to the back and front bumpers and smashed windshield. I didn’t see any people in those said vehicles.

Of course after car passed by the accident scene, traffic it was flowing freely!!! GAWKERS!!!! There were also 2 more cars on the South side of the freeway in ditches and 1 more on the North. These cars must be going fast. I tried going 50+ mph and the Monte was already fish tailing.  So had to go 45 mph.

Needless to say when I got home, I had to park the car on the street and my workout began….clearing the 3 inches of snow. Bah!!!  The car could not even go all the way up, stucked half way on the driveway.