Choices

Let me throw an odd question out there: if you had to permanently lose either your sight or your hearing, which would you choose?

Room of one’s own

Man, I am so freaking psyched about Mardi Gras! I’m probably going to be out of touch all next week, but I promise a nice big post afterwards to tell you guys all about it. Gah, New Orleans for Mardi Gras; it feels like one of those things everyone says they’ll do someday but never actually do, like jump out of an airplane or swim with dolphins. I’m nervous and excited; I have no idea how this week is going to play out.

I went out for dinner with Teresa last night and for some odd reason we both ended up talking about prayer. She had her own issues, but I ended up using her as a sounding board about praying during Mardi Gras. I’ve been wrestling with this all week, trying to figure out what feels authentic to me, not too much or too little, and what will be unobtrusive and not-weird in a crowded apartment with no privacy. So I finally decided to do a slightly longer Shaharit but not do Mincha for the week, basically pray early in the morning when everyone is asleep or going about their morning routine, and then go about my day. And physical therapy is an added pain, no pun intended; I always feel so self-conscious about it. (Hard to do buttlifts without a few raucous comments, for one thing.) But in the grand scheme of things, it’s really silly to get worked up about what amounts to five minutes out of the day when there’s going to be so much amazing stuff going on. I can’t wait.