Of cold snaps and Adoration seeking adventures...

Hi all! I am with you today from my snowy home in Western New York. Technically, the library I work at is open (it takes a LOT for schools and businesses around here to close due to the weather). That being said, however, we've gotten about a foot of snow, and the driving conditions at the morning commute were pretty treacherous. So I used a comp day to stay home. Ironic that I took this photo on Friday:

...and it looks pretty much the same outside right now. :0 The snow is still going strong, which is another reason I didn't want to drive in to work today. It's only going to get worse.

So that's been the story over here for the past several days. We've had an incredibly mild winter here, but February is always dicey, and true to form, we had our first cold spell beginning on Friday. Temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and some fresh accumulating snowfall. Dance was even cancelled due to the poor road conditions, which is always a bummer.

And this ties into my Saturday morning Lenten adventures with young Henry. ;-) We woke up all excited for our Mommy/son date to go to breakfast and Adoration.We bundled up and headed out onto the freshly plowed roads. It was a clear and beautifully sunny winter day.

Our first stop was the local IHOP, where Henry and I sampled ridiculously dessert-like pancakes and chose extravagant omelets. I powered up on coffee, Henry on juice, and then we trudged back out into the tundra to drive to the perpetual Adoration chapel. It was just really cold out, no other negative weather conditions.

I was excited to get Henry to this particular Adoration chapel because I tried to take him once before, last Christmas Eve. But when we arrived at the church, we found a sign tacked up saying that the Adoration chapel was closed between Christmas and New Years. Not so perpetual. ;-) But I imagine it's difficult to keep their regular schedule of adorers around the holiday travel season.

So Saturday, Henry and I pull up. We grab our rosaries and devotionals and hop out. I'm explaining to him the logistics and reasoning behind genuflecting (since he's very forgetful in this realm), when we get up to the door, and wham!

"Adoration Chapel closed due to severe cold."

*LONG SUFFERING SIGH*

I didn't see this one coming. It was indeed very cold, but I was surprised. I imagine, though, that many of their scheduled adorers are elderly, and the cold is very difficult for them to come out in.

Henry and I trudged back to the car, discussing the one other perpetual Adoration chapel in our area, but that one would be more of a drive. Henry had the excellent suggestion of stopping off at his school parish since they have a small chapel that is open during the day. It's not for Adoration specifically, but it would do! And it's quite close to our house. So off we drove.

When we arrived, we found a hearse and assorted other cars in front of the chapel.

:0

BUT, the main church was open, and we know what's in there, right? The tabernacle! So we went in there and prayed for about 15 minutes. All was well with the world. But I STILL want to get Henry to that Adoration chapel! We're going to try again in two weeks, and hope springs eternal that it's actually open.

And with that, I must sign off to attend to my chat reference shift. Yay? No, not exactly, but a librarian's work is never done! And such pleasing ambiance over here at home, with me in front of the desktop, and the kids fighting in the other room as I should "STOP IT!" every few minutes. Such joy. ;-)

I'll be back tomorrow with likely a crafty post. Snowy days cause me to knit a lot. I think I'll be able to post a Lenten book review next Wednesday, check the side bar for details!

I'm off to heat the kettle. How is your Lent going? Does anyone else have a Lenten resolution to go to Adoration? Any other Lenten details you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you!

Some pre-Valentine's Day musings on relationships...

Happy Thursday all! I heard a story on NPR's "This American Life" podcast this week that got me to thinking. It's about relationships and marriage, and since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, I thought "perfect timing!" I do have conversations with myself about blog topics. It's just part of what makes me special. ;-0

Anyway, the story in a nutshell was this:  a guy (we'll call him Adam) and his girlfriend met back in college. They hit it off right away, started exclusively dating, and 13 years later were still together. Now 30 years old, they were an established couple amongst their group of friends and obviously very comfortable with each other. The problem? They had never talked about getting married. They just kept dating because both of them wanted to, and neither had felt particularly compelled to talk about marriage.

Adam finally broaches the topic, and is a bit surprised by his girlfriend's response. They had only ever (seriously) dated each other. She thought they should see other people before getting married. And let me be clear (without being vulgar): she specified that she felt they should be intimate with other people prior to marrying each other.

My mouth was hanging open a bit at this point, but I'll continue. :0 They agree that for 30 days, they will not speak, and that they are free to, you know, *see* as many people during that time as they like. Their one rule is that they will not enter into an actual relationship with anyone else. They embark. Adam regales us with some tales of his 30 days. At the end of the month, both Adam and Girlfriend agree that one month wasn't long enough. So they continue on in this fashion for a total of three months.

During this time, Adam finds that he is struggling a bit with his feelings. He found a few women that he became emotionally attached to, and had to abruptly stop seeing them lest he break his promise to his girlfriend. Towards the end of the three months, things are looking dire. He has fallen in love with another woman. His girlfriend? Reports no such phenomena. She said that she had no trouble keeping her feelings out of their experiment.

So, when the three months are over, Adam and his girlfriend get together to talk. The result is completely unsurprising, in my opinion. They decide to break up. They both enjoyed meeting other people and felt that the reason they felt compelled to conduct such an experiment showed that neither was completely happy in their relationship anymore. They went their separate ways.

We now cut to Adam talking to the host of the show, Ira Glass. Adam tells Ira that as a result of all of this, he thinks that when he does get married, he wants it to be for only seven years. At the end of seven years, they can choose to either break up or get remarried. But this way, things won't get stale and you won't take the other person for granted, at least in his estimation. Ira took issue with this a bit, and said that he felt one of the huge benefits to marriage is the security of knowing that you both vowed to stick with it for life, not just for a short duration. If something goes wrong in the short term, you don't have to fear the person leaving you for easier pastures just because you're nearing a seven year time stamp.

I thought about this story for a long time after listening to it. I'm sure you would be unsurprised to learn that I think the very premise of this couple's "experiment" was an absolutely terrible idea. Of *course* they were going to break up after that! The whole thing was a sabotage of their relationship.

I suppose the deeper issue is - what really *is* compatibility and happiness with your spouse within marriage? It's not any one thing, of course. We could add things onto the list of answers to this question all day. But to me, a real essential part of this equation is a decision. I made a decision to vow to be faithful to my husband and live out the rest of my life with him. Are there other men out there that I could have decided to marry instead? Well, sure. I'm not saying I in particular had all of these options :0 because I did not. What I mean is that anybody could look around and say "oh, I also find him attractive. He's (fill in the blank with shared interest or key part of your background) and also (ditto). Hum...

But we don't do that, or at least recognize that we shouldn't. One could always perceive the grass to be greener somewhere else. Marriages that are successful involve two people who are able to put those thoughts aside and direct their romantic energy onto their spouse. We choose a partner for a reason, many of them in fact, compelling ones. Over the course of ten, twenty, thirty plus years, people change. Our circumstances in life change. But our marriage vow does not. And in my opinion, if you keep your romantic focus on your spouse, despite those changes, you will remain happy in your relationship.You bring other people into the equation, and suddenly you are distracted. You damage your emotional bond with your spouse. The fibers of your relationship start to crumble.

Mike and I will celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary next January. There have been some tough times, but I have always been, and remain, happily married. And listening to this story made me appreciate my husband anew. We're both in this for the long haul. My husband may not be perfect, nor is he married to a perfect woman. But we are committed to each other. I know that he loves and cherishes me, not only because he tells me so, but because I know that he is committed to being there for me and our children. And that speaks volumes.

What do you all think? Did anyone else hear "This American Life" this week? Is it possible to be happy with just one person for the rest of your life? Thoughts in the comments, please! :)