March Wrap-Up (ft. A Quirk, again!)

Happy day-the-Ring-was-destroyed! Oh, and also happy feast of the Annunciation! :) It's a good day to recap my month, I guess. It's been quite busy and rather Lenten at moments, but it's starting to be spring here, which is beginning to do wonders for my mood, and school is going well and all that, so overall, I'm in pretty good shape. 

1. The thing that really characterized my March (at least so far...at the beginning of next week, which is still officially March, I have a Landscape Architecture charrette, which might also be a characteristic event) was Spring Break! Home in the PNW for a whole glorious week and a day! It was lovely to see my family, wonderful to be back at my home parish for at least part of Lent (I got to go to Stations of the Cross there, which was a great joy), and also a joy to be back in my home city, where it had already been spring for several weeks (to be fair to Illinois, it's spring here now. But to me, it feels like it's a month late. XD) and there are mountains.

Some of the highlights (besides Stations of the Cross) included:
-Being asked on the plane there if I was a nun, or planning to become one, when I pulled out my rosary to pray during takeoff.
-Checking on my beehive, which did survive the winter!
-Playing D&D with Pippin & Gimli, Pippin's roommate, and my siblings. I saved the day with my character's French horn playing skills, Eomer's character had a duck under his coat during the entire final epic showdown, and overall, a good time was had by all. (Although I've decided that D&D is not really this introvert's thing. XD)
-Getting to livestream something for our parish again.
-Doing a total of four hours of research for my term paper at both the Central Library and the Municipal Archives. (The Central Library is SO COOL and I need to go back sometime during the summer, I think).
-Spending time at Rivendell with cousins and Pippin's roommate, as well as my family.
-Going to Frodo's firstborn daughter's baptism! (Yes, Frodo and her husband had a baby!! She's adorable!!!)
-Getting to hear both Legolas and Galadriel sing in choir concerts in the choir that I was in from K-12. (I really miss performing in choir. I really, really miss performing in choir. But it was SO good to get to hear them.)
-The older gentleman sitting next to me on the plane ride back showing me pictures of his granddaughter (not as cute as Frodo's daughter, but pretty cute) and discussing county fair food with him.

2. So, yeah, I watched Hawkeye. Did I make a public announcement that I wasn't going to watch any more phase 4? Maybe. (I actually can't remember. I certainly made said announcement in private.) Did I break that resolution? Yeah. Do I regret it? Well, not really. 

I went into it not at all sure that I would like it, and yet, it had a bunch of elements that I really enjoyed.

-Plot that was twisty as all get-out, especially towards the end.

-The dynamic between Clint and Kate. I was worried that it was going to get weird, but it totally doesn't. It's a very father-daughter relationship, and I really enjoy their moments together. (I am a little concerned that Lila's going to get jealous, though.) Kate totally has a hero-worship thing going on, and Clint just needs to keep this stupid kid safe...but somewhere along the line, he starts to be okay with letting her watch his back. I love it.

-The incorporation of sign language! Y'all may know that I am a sucker for anything involving ASL and/or the Deaf community, and this series had both!

-The redemption for a couple of characters at the end. 

-Yelena! (That's literally in the trailers, so it's not a spoiler. For the record.) I love her moments with Kate especially. 

-The Christmas music that is either completely inopportune, or completely opportune, by turns. 

-Kate herself. She has a complex journey, and I enjoy watching her struggle figure out who she is, and her place in the world.

There were just so many sweet and funny moments, especially with Kate and Hawkeye, and I thought the whole thing was overall well-crafted, and it had some of my favorite tropes...so, I really do not regret watching it. But NOW I will stop watching Phase 4 Marvel. ;)

This photo may look familiar...but the dress that I'm wearing is actually the Wool& dress. :)

3. One cool thing that I've been doing actually since November that I haven't mentioned at all on the blog yet is that I did a Wool& 100-day challenge that finished at the beginning of this month. And since that was a couple of concepts you might not know of right in a row, allow me to explain.

Wool& is a company that makes Merino Wool clothing, specifically dresses (although they're branching out into shirts and a few other things now, too, I think?). There are many cool things about wool, the first of which is that it wears REALLY well. It doesn't hold smells, and it doesn't stain (if you get something on it, and you get it wet, the stain disappears. It's magic). The second of which is that it's cool when it's hot, and it's warm when it's cold. And the third of which is that if it gets wet, it stays warm! (Just saying. It really is basically magic.) (I promise that they're not paying me to say any of this. This is all things that are just true about wool.)

In order to promote the magic-ness of wool, Wool& has a deal where if you buy one of their dresses and wear it for 100 days, and send them pictures as proof, they'll give you a $100 gift card. And since that is nothing to sneeze at, I decided to give it a go. With the challenge, you don't have to wear it all day for 100 days, just at least some of the time all of the days, and you are allowed to wash it. Which was necessary after a certain number of days, even though the wool didn't really smell or stain...cumulative wear does have an effect.  

I bought the blue Maggie Swing Dress Long and started the challenge at the very end of Thanksgiving Break, actually, the day I was flying back, I believe, and, as I mentioned, just finished it.

I was a little concerned that wearing the same thing day after day would get boring...or that people would be weirded out...or that I'd forget to wear it...or something! But none of that really happened. It was actually had quite a nice effect on my daily routine. I'd hang the dress up to air out at night, and then in the morning, I could set an alarm ten minutes before I wanted to be in the chapel and just roll out of bed and into the dress + leggings or tights + a flannel shirt (or something a little nicer, if it was Sunday) over top without even thinking about it, and be in the chapel doing morning prayer just as I was coming fully awake. Very efficient! I finished the challenge at the beginning of the month, and now that I'm sometimes wearing pants + shirt again, the indecision about what to wear really does add more time than I'd like to my mornings (or evenings, if I decide to set out an outfit beforehand, which would be the smart thing to do, and thus, not the thing that usually happens.) (I'd like to clarify that I am not a morning shower-er. I do shower, don't worry, just not during my morning routine, usually. XD) Because it slotted so nicely into my life, I didn't forget to wear it even once. And most people didn't even notice what I was doing. "Your dress" did become common parlance with a few of my friends, and a couple of people have been surprised to see me in pants in the last couple of weeks, but no one thought it was weird.

And even in the winter in Illinois, the dress worked just fine keeping me warm, usually with a sweatshirt + coat over, just like I'd do for any other shirt/outfit. Which was rather surprising, but a happy surprise. 

Oh, and the doesn't-stain-doesn't-smell thing? Absolutely true. Which is quite handy. I've worn polyester a time or two since the end of the challenge, and been irritated at the degree to which it can retain odor. :P

There was also just something about actually wearing a dress for 100 days in a row. I wore that dress for everything--travel, school, Mass, working on the slaughtering floor at the meat lab--and it really made me aware that dresses can pretty much be worn for everything. It added a certain layer of what a friend of mine termed "formality" to my life that I rather liked. Not that it was a super formal dress, but just wearing a dress worked a certain je ne sais quoi, which I can't put a finger on. But it was...likeable. Perhaps it made people treat me with more respect? Or remember that I was a woman more? Maybe it reminded me more often of my dignity as a woman? Idk. 

So, conclusion? Would highly recommend, and I'm going to be ordering my new dress as soon as I can decide which of the many marvelous options I'd like to obtain! (They really are not paying me, I promise. XD)

4. One of my low-key obsessions this month has been with some of the music from Howl's Moving Castle the musical. And since a couple of times since I've mentioned that on the blog, people have gotten really excited about the musical of Howl's Moving Castle (only to be disappointed, since it literally only plays every couple years in a tiny theatre in downtown Seattle, and there's no cast album) I thought I'd share the music of it that I've been obsessing over. The writer has put a handful of the songs up on YouTube, and I've created a playlist, which I've embedded below! (Or, I've tried to. We'll see if it works.)

But since just the playlist is a tad boring, I thought I'd talk a bit about the songs that are on the playlist, especially to contextualize them for people who haven't seen the musical. :) (Oh, and they're not in chronological order, just fyi.) (And there may be very minor spoilers in the context, although I'm doing my best to keep it vague.)

A Different Person
Context: Sophie sings this one when she's still stuck in the hat shop before the inciting incident, feeling like a mouse-like sort of person, and worried that she'll be stuck in the hat shop forever.
Favorite bits: //every other life is so unique...have I no fortune meant for me to seek?//maybe I am to be satisfied with where I am somehow, maybe I am to be grateful for right now//if only one small wish would just come true//maybe a quiet life with cats//and never would I want much more than this, and never would I need another wish//maybe the eldest sister is not cursed, maybe I'll change the fate of those born first!//maybe I can choose better and not worse//

Cake
Context: Martha (and Lettie) sing this to Sophie in the baker's shop to explain how they've switched places, and encourage her to get out of the house already.
Favorite bits: //I told you I want to get married...I've got to start soon if I'm going to have ten sons and daughters!//why have a dull life when you can have cake?//cake cake cake cake cake!//

Lettie Loves Me
Context: Michael, Howl's assistant, finds out that Howl hasn't stolen Sophie's sister, who he's in love with...who's actually Martha, because Martha and Lettie switched places, but #minordetails. 
Favorite bits: //turns out it's just a big mistake! whoop, I ordered cake//she's never seen him or his guitar, which by the way, he doesn't even play//I love her for who she is inside/when the time is right she will be my bride//people our age change all the time//it's all right, she is mine and I am hers!//

All Her Life
Context: There's really no substitute for watching this song live, in the theatre, I'm afraid. There's so much subtext that's going on. Sophie sings about the new flower shop that she's living in, while she gathers the flowers to sell, and Howl accompanies her...and if it's done well (which it almost always is), the audience can clearly see that Howl's feelings are changing...but Sophie herself can't see it, and argghhhhhh it's incredibly excellent.
Favorite bits: //though she was born the eldest, it seems she had a wish come true//a bank of dark purple flowers drifted by...Howl's sleeve awoke several hundred blue butterflies//oh, the lilies were real/and oh, what lilies reveal//she never expected to feel this in all her life//

I Was Told To Stay
Context: A spoilery character (who's also confusing, so I'd be sure to get his name wrong XD) sings about why the inciting incident happened, and his interaction with Lettie, Sophie's sister, in which Lettie tells him to go keep an eye on Sophie.
Favorite bits: //beneath the ostrich plume, I hear her say "off you run"//something's wrong with Sophie, Howl can't be trusted, and Sophie's far too kind//I was told to go...and I will keep an eye on her!//we can find someone who knows how to turn us back to the people we were//

Mister Smith
Context: Sophie's stepmother sings this one when she meets Sophie again, explaining how one of the hats Sophie made helped her find a husband after all of her daughters & stepdaughters had left home.
Favorite bits: //Sophie, if I knew the things I know today, Sophie, say that you'll forgive me please!//Fanny was a mother, and still she was so young, with so much life to live, and things to do//she feared she'd grown so old with nothing to show for it//

Wherever I'm Going
Context: Sophie sings this one as she sets out into the unknown after the inciting incident.
Favorite bits: //the edge of town and over the bridge into the country lands and beyond//breathing the scent of May...it was a warm spring day!//I'll find a fire, and a comfortable chair, as soon as I get to wherever I'm going//a shepherd fellow on his way home after seeing to his sheep//how our perspectives change!//

5. I am, once again, linking up with Jem Jones for Quirk #11! (I hope y'all aren't getting tired of Quirks in wrap-ups, because they're both fun, and give you hopefully a bit of a treat in the midst of me being all serious and stuff about my month. In the way that gushing about Howl's Moving Castle music and Hawkeye is always serious, y'know.

Of course, I say that, and then proceed to write a super serious Quirk, but y'know. It's the thought that counts, or something like that.

I pick Gracie up and savor the feeling of her soft grey fur on my arms, bare for the first time this spring. The past weeks have been cold and rainy, but today the sun broke through, and I donned my favorite pink slightly lacy short-sleeved shirt, which just barely still fits over my second-trimester belly. 
Jack loved when I would wear this shirt.
"No," I tell myself, aloud, as I ascend the stairs through the garden-courtyard back up to the house. "Jack loves when I wear this shirt." Present tense.
I set the cat down, step into the kitchen, and tug on the faucet handle, washing my hands clean of soil and cat hair. 
Two steps take me to the linen towel hanging from the oven handle, where I dry my hands, and then I turn to the counter where my preserves are sitting. I canned them earlier, and I'm hoping they've sealed. I lean down close, catching myself with one hand on the counter as my stomach pulls me down more than I've expected, and examine the jar lids with a critical eye. Four out of five have already sealed, thank goodness. Last time, it was one out of five. The last one might still seal...I'll give it overnight. 
If it doesn't seal, I'll need to give that jar to Mrs. Benson, next door. I can't eat it until Jack comes home. I would've given it to my parents...but not anymore.
It's his favorite. This pink shirt, and rhubarb preserves. 
I pinch my lips together and turn away, absentmindedly rubbing my stomach. Just because I haven't heard from him in two weeks doesn't mean anything is wrong.
Just because he was stationed in the town where fighting has been fiercest for the last month doesn't mean anything is wrong.
Just because the last time he emailed me, he made a point of saying how much he loved me--and the baby--doesn't mean that anything is wrong.

It could just be a routine communications blackout meaning that someone else in the unit was killed.
It could be.
I can't let my parents have been right. They said that he shouldn't enlist, that he'd be killed, and I'd be left alone with the baby. But he'd said that he'd rather enlist in his preferred division than wait for his draft number to come up. And his draft number would've come up. They said that if he did enlist, and was killed, they wouldn't give me any help with finances, or the baby. That it would be our own bad decisions that got us there.
I rub my stomach again, and the baby kicks, still such an incredibly weird sensation. That decision on their part means that they won't get a close relationship with their grandchild. "I hope they regret giving up on us," I mutter, "no matter what happens."
I settle myself into a chair at the dining room table, and flip open my laptop to check my email for the third--or is it the fifth?--time today. 
Nothing, still.
I check the news. Nothing that I haven't seen since the last time I checked it an hour ago.
I sigh, close the laptop, stand, and move to one of the soft, comfy chairs in the living room, letting out another sigh as I sit. Gracie hops up beside me and curls herself up next to my leg, purring. I scratch between her ears absentmindedly. The baby kicks again, this time a barrage, hands-and-feet, hands-and-feet. 

And suddenly tears are rolling down my face. If Jack were here, I would tell him to come over, put his hand over my stomach, and let him feel the kicks, watching the smile spread across his face. And then he would wrap me in an ecstatic hug, and everything would be right with the world.
I miss that feeling, the one that said that nothing bad was going to happen, because we were together.
As it is, Jack has never felt his son or daughter kicking, and... I don't let myself finish that thought.
My laptop chimes, and I jump out of the chair, a movement which Gracie protests with an irritated meow. I open the laptop as quickly as I can. I'm going to be embarrassed if this is a spam email, or something from work. 
I open Outlook, and the email pops up.
Sender: Jack Larramie
Subject: I'm fine, how are you?
The tears which still stain my cheeks are joined by new ones. Thank God he's fine...but will that last? Next time, will it be a knock on my door instead?
I hear the little pop as the last jar of jam seals in the kitchen, and wonder...how long will it be until he's home to eat it?

6. One of my favorite books that I read this month (well, one of my favorites of the new books I read this month, the Lord of the Rings obviously being my favorite reread & overall favorite book from this month) was actually nonfiction, Awesome Glory by Jeremy Driscoll.

The book was pitched to me as an in-depth look at the Triduum and Easter liturgies, which sounded almost too good to be true. Those are my favorite liturgies of the year, and I love thinking about them. So, I was worried, going in, that it was just going to be an overview, or it was going to be saccharine, or it was actually going to be about something else entirely, or...or...or.

But as it turns out, it's literally exactly what it bills itself as. The book begins with a few basic chapters on various topics, including the concept of "pasch", and the intrinsic interrelationship between Christ's death and resurrection, and then launches into a series of chapter which describe and meditate on each of the liturgies, including the prayers, readings, rites, actions, and even mood, from Holy Thursday until Pentecost. 

It was incredible in that I never thought I'd come across someone who would have the same love for the Triduum liturgies, and even see them in the same way as me--the way he describes the mood of each liturgy is incredibly spot-on to my own experience, and I loved that. (It did also make me very sad that I won't be home for Triduum this year, though. Caveat emptor.)

But even beyond that, it added meditations for each liturgy that I wouldn't have ever thought about before--extra significance in certain parts of the Exultet; the real community meaning of the washing of the feet, even beyond the metaphor; and what the Ascension meant about Jesus's presence among us, just to name a few of my favorite concepts.

So, it's a book I'd highly recommend to any liturgy nerd or any Catholic who wants to learn more about Triduum and the liturgies thereof. 

7. This month, I reviewed Everyone Brave is Forgiven, and the ever-helpful-in-helping-me-think-up-new-bloggish-things Megan said that she was very glad I'd reviewed it since she'd been thinking of reading it, but hadn't known if she wanted to or not.

Lightbulb moment!

I usually have a pretty good idea what I'm going to read in a given month. Which means that, with what I've read the month before and what I'm going to read in the month, I know what the pool of books is that I'll be picking a book from to review. I can share that information with you, so that you can help me optimize my reviews to be helpful to y'all, my dear readers! 

So, I've created a Google Forms poll, where you can note what books you might be interested in seeing me review in April. If this is popular, I might implement it every month. We shall see!

Here's the Google Form, let me know what you'd like to see me review in April! (Note: I'm not positive I'll be reading every single one of these books. I'm planning on it, but plans change. So, I make no specific promises that I'll read every one of these books in the next month. ;) I will prioritize whichever book it seems like most people would like to hear about.)

Have you ever worn wool clothing? If you're Catholic, which liturgy of the Triduum is your favorite? Have you read Howl's Moving Castle? If so, what did you think of the songs?