Lots of bits to write about.
Yesterday, I called a couple of Franciscans that have been staying away from the meetings. Mainly it's the husband, who takes issue with some of the political standings of the local Council leaders, and I wouldn't have known that unless I talked to them. We gabbed for almost two hours. I hope he wasn't put off by my understanding of certain historical thingys that the Church was involved in, mainly dealing with Joan of Arc (I still don't understand why she's not a martyr; that is still not cleared up for me.) Anyway, according to Earl, she was declared a witch because she beat the British hedgehog (all dem archers), by drawing the dudes in the heavy armor into boggy patches of ground, and staying out of the arrows' way. Not all that different from Elizabeth I kicking Spanish booty during the Armada. Phil II sends these big ol' mamma ships into the Channel, and Bess has got these swift itty bitty boats just making their lives hell. Yep, that was witchcraft, too, and though I'm not a fan of the Tudors, I love Elizabeth. What a tough cookie.
The other thing was that King David was very, very sorry after sending Bathsheba's hubby to the front lines. And because he was so contrite, God forgave him and let him keep all his stuff. So, he didn't kill Uriah the Hittite outright but he didn't intend for the man
not to come home? He just thought Uriah would like a challenge? A chance to try out his brand new spear on some bad guys? *sigh*
Think Bathsheba would have gotten away with sending Uriah to gather wild adders?
I mix the venom with milk and salt, it makes a wonderful bath scrub, don'cha know? Oh, thank you, honey. See you when you get back. 
And when he's brought home, swollen up like a tick, Bathsheba is so sorry, just as sorry as David would be, if he hadn't thought of it first. Think she'd get all forgiven? Don't think so.
To paraphrase Yoda, "My own council will I keep, on who is to be
king." But I did enjoy the conversation, though it has reinforced to me why King David got a break, and Joan of Arc didn't.
On the DNA front, Duane found out that he's a 7-times great grandson of Lord Baltimore, on his dad's side. Who was Catholic

! I have been teasing him all evening

. At one point, there was a conversion to the Anglican Church from a later son, which from the sound of it, was politically driven in order to get back some confiscated property, and then a further one to Quakerism, which made them lose it again. We have some extensive work done by my mother-in-law on her side, with Puritans as the first family mentioned in the 1600's, all the way to the present. But we had nothing on Marlin. I am just tickled to death; Helen was no 'friend' of Papists. She never really saw me as anything other than that, even though I'd been a Baha'i all my adult life. I guess, after the past few years at Saint Francis, and seeing as how most of people there are proudly 'cradle to grave' Catholic, I can forgive her for thinking that it's impossible to be anything else. But, now I wonder, what if I had become Quaker? Hmmm....
I'm calling the vet tomorrow. Duane wants Amy seen. He has always been cheap when it comes to the cats, but when I told him about how worried I am about her, he said take her. I said,
"It wouldn't be because you're attached, are you?" He didn't say, but he did blush. I hope I can get her in to see Dr. Blaklock; she took care of Tasha. I hope it's not diabetes, but with all the drinking she's been doing, it just might be. I moved her bed from atop the covers at the foot of mine, to the floor, just east of where the dresser vents the heat from the register. She rolled off the bed a couple of weeks ago, during the day - which I never expected to have happen. I don't want her trying to climb up during the night. Poor baby. She hates the doctor as much as I do.
I took to wearing one of my new brooches, the round one. It's my favorite, hands down, and probably the favorite of the original owner. You can tell from the clasps; this one let go as I was taking groceries from the car, and I found it on the asphalt. It was pin-side down, no harm done, but that does it. We're off the fixer tomorrow. As far the cross-shaped one and the Weiner Original, the first did benefit from a bit of gorilla glue at both ends of the clasp. That makes me think that it was worn a bunch, but not as much as the round one. The Weiner rectangle is not as pretty, and the back is practically mint. You don't have to be Sherlock to figure this out.
Yesterday, I went through my Betty Crocker Cookbook. It was a bridal shower gift from my favorite aunt. I loved Annie; always feeding squirrels, talking to trees. She bought me my first Bible, when I was fourteen. Big ol' red Catholic bible - like they talk about in DUNE.
That was the Bible I used to study Baha'i - don't tell anybody

. Anyway, I had so many greeting cards in it that the book was ruined - without help, it would not recover. So, I gathered all the photos out of them, separated the three I wanted to keep (that's all I found - one was from Michael, and the others were from friends who have died.) I'm giving them to Mary to get to the lady who makes the fantastic greeting cards that we buy for my Infirmarian job. As for the cookbook, I applied a heavy layer of Elmer's to the back and made it stand on a ruler with a rolled top. That forced the spine to adhere to the pages. It's still drying, as I speak. I've never used it.

, except as a file for greeting cards.
Well, it's 11 PM here. Off to bed I go.
goodnight,
sara