Prayers, please

Dear faithful readers:

Please pray for my cousin, Jessica, and Wyatt David, her son. Jessica is in labor right now, delivering her little boy about eight weeks premature.

Jessie being pregnant was always really risky, so much so that the doc put her on bedrest eight weeks ago. They induced labor this morning because it was too risky to continue the pregnancy.

Also pray for Dustin, the husband and father!

So send up a prayer, or two, a whole batch of rosaries, and hopefully Wyatt will enter the world with as few complications as possible!

ADDENDUM: Baby Wyatt entered the world at 8:34pm on May 20th, 2010. He is 15.5 inches long and weighs three pounds even. He had something of a bumpy start, but he's in the NICU getting weaned off of a ventilator and charming the hell out of everyone there.

Keep it up, Wyatt! Your family loves you! And great job, Mama Jessie! (And Daddy Dustin, and Big Sister Matti!)

Motherhood

(This comes a few days early, because I will be away on silent retreat on Mother's Day.)

I love Mother's Day.

This is a time in my life when many of my friends and my own generation of my family are becoming mothers. My family members are a bit older than me, but many of my friends are just my age, or a few years older, and many are married with children.

Somehow, this didn't hit me last year, probably because I was a student and not thinking about my life very far beyond graduation or JVC. But I look at myself and the way I live my life, and then I think about my girlfriends who have children, I realize how dramatically having a baby changes your life. Most of my daily concerns (often high-maintenance, superfluous concerns that don't mean anything at the end of the day) would never crop up in my mind if I were a mother. Or if they did, they would be quickly shooed away by something that my baby needs!

The other thought that occurred to me, especially as a family member is struggling through a difficult pregnancy (though mom and baby are both still well, thank God!), is how much my own mom went through when she carried me and my brother. Now that I'm actually experiencing the worry and concern that my parents and family went through when Mom's first pregnancy went awry, I am only just now grasping how terrified everyone must have been. More than anyone else's, my mother's anxiety must have been absolutely agonizing. (I am all the more thankful that she did everything she could, especially petitioning our Blessed Mother incessantly, to make sure we were OK, because all disasters were averted and Joe and I are fine!)

Which leads me to realize how much mothers give! If the acts of carrying and delivering a child aren't enough, the acts of parenting, protecting, forming, molding, teaching, nurturing, disciplining, feeding, bathing, educating, rocking, comforting, clothing, nursing, playing with, arguing with, dealing with tantrums of, checking homework for, cooking for, singing lullabies to, attending all recitals and ballgames and pageants and parent-teacher conferences of a child certainly are! Many in the world at large seem to disagree, but I can't think of anyone more important in a person's life than a mother.


I am also coming to see what happens when a mother does not step up to raise her children the way I have just described, especially as I've worked with Camden's youth and disadvantaged adults. So many of the children in my ministry have home lives that are in absolute shambles, and the adults in my ministry wouldn't have half of the problems they have now if their parents had given them the love and care they deserved when they were young. I remain convinced that if the families in this area were to concentrate all of their energy on setting positive examples for their children and doing everything in their power to love and discipline them, this city would be well on its way to complete renewal in ten years. As it is now, this city stands on the brink of hell, which is most apparent in how broken its families are.


So this is my salute to all of the amazing mothers in my life: Athena, Lindsey, Lauren, Meli, Heather, Courtney, Katie, Jessica, Aunt Maryl, Aunt Julie, Aunt Paula, Aunt Steph, Aunt Debbie (my godmother!), Laurie... and all the amazing moms I've missed. I hope God blesses you immensely on this Mother's Day!


But most especially, this is my salute to my mother. She's the best mom a girl could ask for. If I become even half the mother that she is to me, I will consider myself most blessed.

I love you, Mom.

Resurrexit sicut dixit, ALLELUIA!

Happy Easter, everyone!


I took the last week off from work and travelled south to Washington DC with my brother, the intrepid traveler that he is. We stayed at the JVC House in the Columbia Heights neighborhood (it was the second time in two weeks that they put me up, and the second time around they put up me and Joe! Thanks, guys!), and spent most of our evenings with them: eating dinner, drinking wine, watching Law & Order, and talking about Europe and social justice-y things. Jesuit Volunteers are cool.


I have fallen thoroughly in love with that city. I already have a favorite restaurant (Amsterdam Falafel, if you ever find yourself in the Columbia Heights area), bookstore (Idle Time Books—a wonderful, understated, and charming place that plays French lounge music and sells the best collection of used books I’ve ever seen), and place to go to church (the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Staggeringly gorgeous.) Joe and I did decidedly tourist-y things during the days—visiting the monuments, going to museums, walking around a LOT—but it was nice to have a few favorite places to go where we felt a little less like tourists. I don’t see myself living there for a long time, but if I could swing graduate school there, I’d be a happy camper!


By the by, the basilica is a wonderful place to be during Triduum! Every priest in the archdiocese comes to concelebrate with the cardinal and the apostolic nuncio to the US. All the seminarians (literally, ALL of them) help serve the Mass. It’s a really beautiful thing to watch. I needed more than an hour to check out all of the side altars in that church!


We schlepped back to Camden after the Good Friday service because our community had planned on having an Easter dinner together (some months ago, the school that Mark and Jenna work for donated a turkey to our community, and we kept it in the freezer for a special occasion. We called the feast “Easter-giving.”) The Vigil Mass at Sacred Heart began at 4:30am (when my alarm clock went off, I actually said out loud, “Are you CRAZY?”), but it was gorgeous. One lady was initiated into the Church, and she just glowed with joy and sacramental grace when she received her Sacraments! She and her godparents led candlelight procession outside the Church (we sang a LOT of “alleluias”) and back in, and even at 5:30 in the morning, the people on the streets took a reverent notice. We went back into the church to finish Mass, and the whole event finished around 7am.


I decided to take advantage of the energy that I still had and went for a run after mass, but I had to hurry home and shower because most of us went to Christine’s church for the 9am Easter service. I really like her church—they have a great ministry team that serves as the pastoral team. Protestant services still feel a little foreign to me, but they’re always so joyful and profound that I certainly enjoy them. Kingsway (the name of the church) starts its services with a praise and worship session, and something pretty profound happened during it on Sunday.


Granted, I had gone to bed at midnight, awakened at 3:30am, been awake for a two-and-a-half hour Mass, and run three miles already that day. I had received a few messages from friends back home who told me they were thinking of me at Easter Vigil. It was my first Easter away from home. An experience (which I’ve always kept to myself) from Good Friday 2009 was still fresh in my mind, as its promise was fulfilled this Easter. So I was teetering on the edge of emotional to begin with.


But when the pianist played the first few measures of “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)”, I just lost it. It wasn’t desperate bawling, but the tears just flowed up and out of me, and I didn’t have the strength to stop them. The song reminds me of home, my old Newman Center, and special moment with a special friend. I couldn’t really help myself.


The slightly mortifying part was that while none of my roommates noticed this (I was sandwiched in the row between Jenna’s boyfriend and my brother, so they couldn’t see me), the lead pastor did. He look over his shoulder, and even though my vision was blurred, I could see him turned toward me for part of the song. Keep in mind—I’ve only been there once before, and I doubt he even saw me that time. So, from his perspective, some unfamiliar woman was standing in his church, weeping like her heart would break on Easter morning. Being the good pastor that he is, when he came and shook hand with our row at the sign of peace (I’d composed myself by then), he gave me a pretty emphatic look and leaned in to ask if I was all right. I answered yes—I just get emotional about Easter.


The truth is, I don’t know what caused the sudden flood of emotion, but I felt a lot better afterwards. Then I napped for four hours, and we ended the day with a great dinner with our community (and a few extended community members! Siblings, significant others, etc).

The MoJo Express

Before my little sister came along, my mother referred to my twin brother and me as "The MoJo Express." (A combination of our names, Molly and Joseph.)

And the MoJo Express is about to pull into Philadelphia and Camden; I'm going to go meet up with Joe in about an hour! I haven't seen him since August, and I can't wait!

Welcome to my turf, Joe!

6 Not-So-Quick Takes Thursday

Please pardon my long absence from the blogosphere! I can't really claim to have been more busy than normal, so I guess I have no excuse. But work has got inordinately more stressful in the past few weeks, so maybe there is some excuse.


I can’t think of anything hugely post-worthy, so in the spirit of those 7 Quick Takes that I see here and there (though they are traditionally done on Friday. I am such a rebel.), I will just point out a few things that have happened on late that will fill people in on the last few weeks.


1.   Adoration: I love Adoration, but since I left Bellingham it was a lot harder to find place to make a holy hour. However, our new friends, the Franciscan Volunteers (FMV’s) over at St. Anthony of Padua parish, are in charge of running Adoration on Monday nights in their church. Last week it was my turn to coordinate my community’s spirituality night, and I just wasn’t feeling up to leading (or participating in, for that matter) a discussion. So rather than labor through a conversation that I felt might be difficult, I took everyone to Adoration, instead. I think we often forget that listening in silence to God is as integral to a prayer life as talking to Him. I know it did me a world of good to catch some quiet face time with Jesus, and I know it made Him happy to be visited by the Camden JV house. I’m also hitting Adoration on the first Friday of each month at a parish in Central Philadelphia, and if the FMV’s move Adoration to Tuesday nights, I’ll likely go every week for a few hours. I’m so happy to have found places that offer this devotion—it always helps me, no matter what I’m doing.


2.   Kevin and Becky: Our wonderful support people (the aforementioned Kevin and Becky) came to visit us this past Monday for this week’s spirituality night. We are so lucky to have them to support and guide us—both during serious times like spirituality nights, and during fun times, like before and after spirituality nights! We sat around and talked and laughed for a long time the other night, and it was just so much fun, and so relaxing, to have them with us.


3.   Work: All right, I’ll come clean: work has been ulcer-inducing for about a month. Last month, my boss had resolved to quit her job in this office. I support her in that decision with 90% of my heart—she is far too over-extended working here, and many of the players in the complex game that is running this building have unwittingly placed far too much responsibility on shoulders. Between that, the fact that she has a large family who depends on her, not to mention three daughters and manifold health problems, she really needs a less stressful job!


But that other 10% of my heart is split the following ways: 5% doesn’t want her to leave because I really love working with her and can’t imagine what this job would be like without her. As far as I’m concerned, she makes this job what it is. That 5% wants to scream, “Please don’t leave me! I don’t know what I’m doing without you!” The other 5% knows that this office would practically disintegrate as soon as she leaves—she’s the only licensed social worker here, she knows the tenants and their life stories by sheer dint of the fact that she is related by blood or marriage to practically EVERYONE who lives here, and because she’s been here for six years, she has established such deep trust with our clients that they won’t deal with anybody else in our office. She’s the only competent case manager here, as well—I genuinely worry that the quality of our office’s work with decline if she leaves.


And if that weren’t stressful enough, she was admitted to the hospital on Monday. Those manifold health problems came to a peak that morning and we rushed her to the ER. She’s been in the hospital ever since. That day, I was the only person in the office after she left, which was quite harrowing and very stressful. Since then, we’ve been hobbling along without her.

On top of all that, a tenant that I worked with pretty closely died over the weekend. There have been moments this week when I wanted to crawl under the desk and suck my thumb instead of dealing with the chaos swirling around me.

4.   Springtime: In a miraculous reversal of weather patterns, it has been BEAUTIFUL around here for the past week and a half. Today we expect a lot of rain, but from last Friday until Wednesday, it has been positively gorgeous outside! That kind of weather requires running by the river and reading on the back stoop. I know we’re in for some scorchers this summer, so a fair-skinned carrot top like me has to pick and choose when she goes outside. (Even on Sunday, I covered my neck, shoulder, and upper chest with a blanket. Skin cancer just doesn’t sound appealing).


5.   Weekend reprieve: Given the high level of stress at work the past month, I made a point to REALLY enjoy myself last weekend. On Saturday I went to an Irish pub in Philly with Bridget, a volunteer with the Sisters of Mercy (known as the Mercy Volunteer Corps). She and I share an affinity for Celtic music, and we want to find some live music to listen to. The live band wasn’t actually a band; it was a group of people who happen to play Irish instruments. Whoever can and wants to just shows up and sits with the musicians, and they improvise and play along. It was a really nice time, just hearing them play (especially because it was FREE!).


The next day, Sunday, I slept in, went for a run by the river, and then went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with Steph, my roommate. On the first Sunday of every month, the PMA has free admission! I plan to go every month until I move away (except next month—the first Sunday is Easter Sunday. Although if we go to the Vigil Mass the night before, we can certainly hit the museum before Easter dinner). The European art section has AMAZING pieces from old altars and such, and ancient illustrated prayer books, a mock chapel with real French Gothic stained-glass windows, etc. I felt like a kid in a candy store, but it was better because all the proverbial candy was free!

After the PMA closed, Steph and I took pictures on the steps out front (the Rocky steps! We sang the theme song and everything!) and in front of the Rocky statue. They’re on my phone, so I can’t post them here. :( THEN we grabbed a quick bite at Cosí and hung out in Central Philadelphia until evening Mass at Old St. Joes’s. It was a perfectly lovely day.


6.   The eagle has landed: Rejoice, my brethren: Joseph Michael Downes has returned to American soil! Joe came back from his Tour d’Europe yesterday. He landed safely in Boston and is staying with my godparents, our aunt and uncle. He’s going to visit with all of our family members in Massachusetts for a while, especially our Uncle Terry (Joe’s godfather), who is pretty sick right now. (Don’t worry—he should make a full recovery. It’s just a long row to hoe at this point. He’s such a trooper). Before Joe journeys west, he’s going to come visit me in Camden! I can’t wait to see him—I haven’t seen him in seven months. We’ve never gone that long without seeing each other!

Hmm, that was only six takes. But it’s already a pretty long blog, so I’ll stop now.

Right, so... this is what happened in January...

I really should update y’all on my life this month—I just can’t think of anything significant enough that it would be interesting to read that can also be posted on a public blog… some private stuff, etc. You know how it is.

Ok. Umm… I returned to work on January 4th after a nice (albeit short!) week at home with family and friends. Among my favorite days were a shopping trip in Seattle with my mom and sister, a gorgeous performance of The Nutcracker with said mom and sister (AND I ran into my old music teacher, who was there with his daughter!), a surprise visit to Bremerton to visit Andrew, Lindsey, and the babe (whose laugh is so intoxicating that I physically can’t keep from giggling when I hear it), a New Year’s Eve party (where I found many old friends and caught up with them… Neil, Jacob, Casey, Matt, Nicole, Lilly… I miss all of you!) and several quiet, one-on-one days with a few dear friends.

Work has been pretty stressful since I’ve been back. One of my cases was supposed to be resolved the Wednesday before last, and I was excited because it was the culmination of three months of hard work on my part. The client desperately needed a doctor’s appointment that she was finally going to have that afternoon. I stood with her and waited for her medical transportation to arrive. And we waited. And waited. And then… we waited some more. Long story short, it turned out that her medical transportation request was never sent. I was unbelievably frustrated—the rest of this woman’s life hinged upon this doctor’s appointment, and something as trivial as a clerical error kept it from happening. We were back at square one, and she’s been declining since I got her case in October.

The rest of the week didn’t seem to get better, and I found myself looking forward to Friday, which was the day I was going to take the GRE. (How stressed out do you have to be to look forward to a standardized test?) I took a personal day, drove to Philadelphia, and took the exam. I scored right around the middle of the bell curve, and I’m still waiting on the Analytical Writing score. I felt really good about the writing section, but only time will tell.

I had realized a few days before I took the test that I really had no idea as to what master’s program I wanted to enter, so I decided to hold off on applying anywhere for a while. I have some ideas now, but I don’t want to rush into anything and I do want to take a little bit of time to clear my head and plan carefully.

The following week was a short one for us JVs because we took off for Dalton, PA for Re-Orientation. It was only the second retreat where all of JVC East was present—the ninety of us won’t see each other again until Dis-Orientation in (gulp) August! We stayed in a seminary (although right now it functions as a retreat center because there aren’t enough vocations to fill the giant building) for the week, and I must say that I really appreciate the appeal of being a seminarian! I had my own little room with a desk and a rocking chair, which is really all I need. I never quite realize what the privacy of one’s own room feels like. The Fatima Center staff fed us very well, and (my favorite part) there was a Eucharistic chapel just down the hall from my room. If I had had the privilege of attending theology classes all day (I did, actually, but they weren’t necessarily comprehensive about our faith), it would have been a week in the life of a seminarian. Since I can’t do that, maybe I’ll go get a theology degree…

I think that our community as a whole found a lot of growth, both personal and communal, this past week. It wasn’t always pleasant, but it was a growing experience. After we had a talk at dinner on Monday, it felt like we’d knocked down a wall that had kept us from communicating fully. So I guess it was a big help. As it was, I called a few friends back home for support, all of which helped me somewhat.


On a semi-related note, our community was also in charge of planning Mass on retreat. Among other things, we planned the music—which is always my department. I must say, we have talented musicians in JVC East! Being the de facto director, I got a lot of compliments (which I tried hard to spread to the rest of the choir/band) on the music. People were pretty moved, and I was happy with it.

Now that I’m back at work, life didn’t wait for me to get back into the swing of things gradually. By 2pm on Tuesday (my first day back) I had to help break up a brawl in the lobby! Two women in their fifties were fighting over a boyfriend (I think—there was a lot of R-rated Spanish getting thrown around, but I caught most of what they were yelling at each other). The guards pulled off the aggressor, and I pulled away the one that was clearly losing the fight (she didn’t really fight me back, thankfully). Is it bad that I’m not shocked at any of this anymore?

So, now you’re caught up! Hopefully I won’t leave everyone hanging for a month again for a while.

Photos!

These are a bit overdue, but I only just found time to put them on the blog! These are pictures from my parents' visit and my going-away shindig.

Dagny and me

The troops from Bellingham!

The view from my front stoop.

Dad and me

Mom and me at the Liberty Bell

My parents and me in front of Independence Hall

Thankful

For a spirituality night this week, our exercise was to create a list of fifty things we are thankful for. Here's the one I came up with:

1. honey in my tea
2. homemade baked goods
3. a healthy, strong body
4. health insurance for when unexpected things happen to it
5. a community of amazing people to come home to every night
6. a big family back home
7. the best friends a girl could ask for cheering me on
8. parents who have always been committed to raising good people
9. two very different, but no less fantastic, siblings
10. the real presence in the eucharist
11. the holy rosary
12. spiritual reading a la Sheen and Merton
13. the collective works of Jane Austen
14. Jane Eyre
15. quirky reading, a la Christopher Moore and John Green
16. mozart
17. chopin
18. show tunes
19. pasta carbonara
20. growing our own parsley and basil in the backyard
21. homemade salad dressing
22. crockpot meals
23. la boheme
24. organic cotton yarn
25. foot rubs
26. hand lotion
27. herbal essences shampoo
28. yoga
29. new balance running shoes
30. sleepy monk organic coffee
31. ipod armbands
32. spanish rice
33. jewelry pliers
34. letters from home
35. care packages
36. emails/facebook messages from loved ones
37. patco subway rides to philly
38. jason robert brown musicals
39. josh groban
40. mocha breves
41. travel coffee mugs
42. breakfast for dinner
43. rowing machines
44. ferry rides
45. big hugs
46. cheek kisses
47. new stationary
48. the hallmark aisle of the supermarket
49. village thrift sweaters
50. suede high heels

Mom and Dad

The big news recently is that my parents came to visit me in Camden this past weekend! (I don’t have pictures because they’re on my mom’s camera, and she’s in DC… I’ll see what I can do about borrowing them when I see her on Friday).

They flew in from Seattle around 6pm and promptly got lost. Mapquest took them to Vine St. in Philadelphia, not in Camden. Between me and my roommate Christine, we were able to direct them across the bridge, through the more confusing streets, and to my front door. They are such troopers—getting lost on the streets of north Camden, in the dark, on very little sleep, when you’ve never been there before is not for the faint of heart!

I was excited to see them, so I threw some clothes in a backpack and decided to spend the night with them at their hotel. (My motives were not entirely pure—one of my favorite things to do with my mom and dad is watch baseball. We caught the better part of the Yankees game before everyone fell asleep.) We found some really good country style food right by the hotel (hit up a Bill Evans’ Restaurant if you’re ever on this coast) and turned in for the night.

The next morning we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. I don’t know if it was the excitement of getting to hang out with Mom and Dad, or letting someone buy me breakfast, or the sugar in the doughnut and coffee, but I was so happy at that point that I was literally bouncing in my chair. Later we drove back to Camden to go to the cathedral for Mass. It was awesome to go to Mass with my parents—I haven’t done that since Christmas break of my senior year!

It may astound all 3.7 of my readers to know that my father, who was born and raised on the east coast, had never been to Independence Hall or the Liberty Bell. Since both of those glorious relics of our county’s history are a forty-minute jog from my front door, we figured Sunday would be a good time to go check them out. I’d already seem them a few years ago, but I am always excited to go look at them again. The tours are different every time, and you learn a little bit more with each ranger and tour guide.

After getting a hands-on lesson in American history (and taking a ton of pictures), we realized that we were REALLY hungry. So we walked around in search of a place to kick back and have a good time. Dad’s friend Larry, who is from Philadelphia, recommended a place called Maggiano’s. I didn’t really know what to expect because there’s a Maggiano’s at the Cherry Hill Mall, so I thought it would be a weird chain restaurant (think Olive Garden).

But *this* Maggiano’s, the one in Philadelphia, is lovely. It’s in an older building so it has a lot of charm and appeal to it. The food was AMAZING, and Mom and Dad really spoiled me! (When Dad let me pick the wine we were going to order, and I doubled checked that he trusted my opinion, he answered, “Molly, I didn’t fly 3,000 miles to *not* coddle you!”)

It was so nice! There was wine, Sam Adams Octoberfest (which everyone should try), stuffed mushrooms, good bread, gnocchi, and cheesecake. But most of all, I was with my parents. It was SOOO much fun!

I had the pleasure of showing them my office before they left for Gettysburg (which Dad just salivated over, I hear…). They met Irma, my boss, and got to see the building and the neighborhood. They’re in DC right now, and I’ll see them again on Friday before they leave.

I have great parents. :)

I'm here: A Camden update

Hey, everyone!
As you may or may not have surmised from my long (or so it feels) absence from the Internet, I a) have been very busy since I left the Wednesday, and b) have been without Internet that entire time. Look for updates here and there, but don’t be surprised if it takes me a day of two to respond if you email or Facebook me; I’ll only have access to the web at work.

So, we (the Camden JVs) have arrived! The reception in the community so far has been very positive, and very overwhelming. Former Jesuit Volunteers (hereafter referred to as FJVs) came to visit us within hours of our arrival, most (thankfully) bearing food or beverages for us. I don’t think we’ve touched any of the food we picked up at the grocery store yet, and this is our fifth day here!

But before I get too far into our time in Camden, I should start with the journey out of Seattle to Baltimore.

"The moment or hour of leave-taking is one of the pleasantest times in human
experience, for it has in it a warm sadness without loss. People who don't
ordinarily like you very well are overcome with affection at leave-taking... It
would be good to live in a perpetual state of leave-taking, never to go nor to
stay, but to remain suspended in that golden emotion of love and longing; to be
missed without being gone; to be loved without satiety. How beautiful one is and
how desirable; for in a few moments one will have ceased to exist."
- from the book "Sea of Cortez" by John Steinbeck and E. F. Ricketts

My last few days out west were full of that “warm sadness without loss.” I hugged goodbye most of the people that I meant to see before taking off, especially at the lovely shindig my family threw for me before going. Thanks to all the Bellingham people who make the drive to Everett to see me off! Love you!

I visited some good friends before going, too. When I walked away from a few homes that held the people I love, it felt like my heart was ripping through the muscles of my back. But even in those moments, I feel absolutely certain that this (Camden, and more broadly, JVC) is exactly where I am supposed to be.

I flew out of Seattle around midnight on Wednesday night/ Thursday morning. Since it was a red-eye flight and I was flying toward the sunrise, I basically skipped Wednesday night. So it felt like Wednesday and Thursday were all one, long day. At the airport in Baltimore, I managed to grab a latte and some breakfast before taking a cat nap by the baggage claim. Eventually I found my community hanging out near where the bus was supposed to pick us up, and after the standard confusion of moving sixty people to one location on a bus, we got on a charter bus and drove to Blue Ridge Summit in Pennsylvania.

Blue Ridge is simply gorgeous. It’s owned by the Jesuits in the area, and frequently is used for retreats like the one we were on. We had a lot of talks, small groups and presentations on the core JVC values: community, spirituality, simple living, and social justice. We had Mass three times: once to kick off the retreat, one for the feast of the Assumption, and one we call the missioning liturgy, when we are all blessed and sent forth to our cities. At that Mass we each received our Jerusalem cross, which is a traditional symbol of missionaries. It’s one large cross, representing Jerusalem, and four little ones around it, representing the four corners of the earth. In JVC, the four crosses stand for the four values.

We got to Camden without incident and found our little house, which is downright luxurious by JVC standards. Carpeting, two stories plus a basement, laundry machines, a dishwasher, 2.5 baths, 4 bedrooms. The dining room table is a big, beautiful, sturdy thing that just screams for people to sit around it and be a community every night. We are VERY well taken care of around here.

The only drag, and certainly what will become the cross that I bear in terms of staying connected with my family and friends, is that we have very limited access to the Internet. I do have a computer at work, but I can't use Facebook or anything like that there. This is all part of learning to live simply, which is one of the main reasons I became a JV; I wanted to purify my faith and life by rooting it in the Gospel, and part of that is giving up worldly goods. Having such a great house makes that a little more difficult, but we're at least going to try going without internet. I don't know if it will last; we plan to revisit the issue in about a month and make a decision as a community. Until then, my apologies if I'm slow to get back to you!

We visited each other's placements the last two days (after a lovely tour d'Camden led by Nick, an FJV, and my amazing cousin), and I have to say that I think we were all placed really well. I like my supervisor, Irma. She's a cool lady, and I look forward to working with her.

Also (I don't have photos of it yet, but believe me), I got a pleasent surprise: I get my own office!!! I am officially a grown up, with a job and an office! Granted, my computer there leaves something to be desired, but I'll take what I can get.

Last night marked our first trip to Philadelphia, so we hopped a PATCO subway to the big(ger) city. We had a great time with some Philly FJVs at a bar called Noche, and then headed back to the Philly JV house. It was a good time. Those of us who headed back last night got caught in a truly diluvian rainstorm last night. I actually took out my contact lenses and carried them in my hand because the rain kept washing them out! Some of my clothes (the ones that can't be dried in the drier) are STILL not dry yet! It was quite the adventure.

I'll write more later about our neighborhood and work-- I start at my job on Monday.

If you want to reach me, PLEASE email me instead of using Facebook (call me for the address; I don't want to put in on a public blog.). It will be easier for me to respond to you. Or you can send me snail mail (like my lovely friend Sara did-- I got a letter this morning!)-- call, text, or email for the address. :)

Take care, everyone!

Molly

I've been tagged!

By Lauren. :)




8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Figuring out what I'm going to do with my life past September.
2. Spending the summer in B'ham hanging out, working out, and reading pretentious novels.
3. Dating someone new if/when I get to a new location. :P
4. Watching all the babies that my family and friends are having grow.
5. Seeing the Mariners have a winning season.
6. Getting a car.
7. Getting my own place.
8. Having a job to subsidize both.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Woke up early to cantor at Mass.
2. Had coffee and pastries with Marie and Claire.
3. Celebrated Andrew's birthday with brunch at Arlis's.
4. Took two naps.
5. Went to Mill Creek to celebrate my aunt's graduation from UW, and meet Baby Dagny!
6. Stopped on the side of the freeway to pickup my cousin Matt because his car broke down.
7. Began a knitting project while watching death note with Marc,
8. Watched the last 30 minutes of Once Upon a Time in Mexico with the troops at the Siena House before bed.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Play piano and guitar.
2. Go to Rome for an extended period of time.
3. Sew my own clothes.
4. Have the resources to cook more often and get better at it.
5. Run a couple miles without it being a big deal for me.
6. Write a really awesome novel.
7. Find the person I'm supposed to marry and tell him I love him.

8 Shows I Watch: I don't really watch TV, but I have a few guilty pleasures. Don't judge!

1. Pushing Daisies
2. Scrubs
3. Friends
4. Law and Order
5. Death Note (Thanks, Marc...)
6. --
7. --
8. --

Now, I tag: Clair, Marc, and Patrick. :)

22. Huh.

Hey, I'm 22 years old today! Crazy!

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

Thanks for putting in 22 years of effort, Mom and Dad!

Also, congratulations to Lauren and Adam on the arrival of their beautiful new baby girl! Welcome to the world, Elena Marie!

Back in the saddle

I'm home from the beach, back at work, and fighting a cold-- and oddly, in a decent mood. Maybe that's just because I'm still fresh from the vacation. Expect pictures soon, though I only got a few good ones.

I did FINALLY meet Miss Ellery, and I think I'm in love! She's a tall little thing; 24 inches long at just under three months. So she has a lot of length but not a lot of muscle tone to move it around. She notices everything, expecially sound-wise-- I noticed that she paid special attention when someone started singing (erm, guitly) and when the music from the TV changed. Let's get this girl into piano lessons, stat!

Less than two weeks left of work!

Ellery

Ellery Cole Jones, born May 25th, 2008. 8lbs, 11oz, 21 1/2 inches long.

Congratulations, Meli and Dax! And David and Mary Anne! (first child and first grandchild, respectively.) She's gorgeous!

Above, Mom, Dad, and Baby Jones (Amelia, Dax, and Ellery). Below, the beautiful girl herself. I can't wait to meet her!

My baby sister's going to college!

Congratulations, Maddie!

My official new nickname for you is Duckling.

Great job, great job, all around; applying early, gettting in, a scholarship (which are REALLY nice, aren't they?) and a somewhat less fuzzy notion of the future!

Now you can let the senioritus take over.

110° In The Shade

Blimey, it's hot.

Although it isn't really 110° in the shade. That's the name of a musical that I learned a fun, "dramatic" song from.

I knew my blog was going to get boring once I started work- there's so little to write about! But I'll try. Thoughts in bullet points:

• Ichiro Susuki earned the MVP award at the All Star game yesterday. He was was the first player ever to hit an inside-the-park home run at an All Star game. Actually, it was his personal first, too. My mom made this very astute observation: Does anyone else think it's ironic that the Japanese sensation's MVP prize was a really crappy American-made truck?
• The last Harry Potter book is coming out soon! I'm rereading the sixth one, in order to refresh.
• My dad and his godson, John, are up at Mt. Baker this week, fishing. Tomorrow night my brother and sister and I are going to go up and join them. We used to go every summer, when I was little. Although back then I didn't actually fish when we were in the boat. Holding a living thing as it dangles by its mouth from a sharp object never appealed to me very much. I used to sit in the boat and read while 10 or so of my cousins and three of my uncles would fish around me. Methinks that tradition is going to continue. I always loved being out there with everybody, but I hate actually catching fish.
• Ditto for eating the fish we caught/will catch. Seafood doesn't sit well with me. I, sired by a Bostonian and fruit of a Seattlite's womb, cannot eat fish. Joe's always joked that I'm not really related to anyone in this family (his proof being my hair color); considering my reaction to seafood, I'm being to wonder about that...
• One of my daily joys this summer is following Tuan's blog- his time in India sounds amazing! Although it makes me question the content of my own blog (what did Tuan do today? He brought food to the needy in India and nurtured his spiritual life. What did I d0? I held a sign... I'm not changing the world much...)
• Speaking of folks from B'ham, I spent about half of last week up on Catholic Row with my lovely NCCM cohorts. Highlights included a barbecue, learning how to use a Nintendo system (picture Patrick asking in a slightly incredulous voice, "Molly, have you ever played a video game before?" "No." For a nanosecond, the room was perfectly silent...), Mass with Fr. Qui-Tac at the Newman center, and dinner afterwards at Boomer's. I was so happy to see everyone- it made my week, truly.

This incredibly random, nonlinear, and ill-structured blog is brought to you by hypoglycemia and stifling heat. Thank you very much. Goodnight.