This weekend Mike and I went camping, so we were out of town on Sunday morning. We decided that rather than go to church in the little town where we were staying, we'd just wait and go to church Sunday night in Milwaukee. So that's what we did. The only problem was our parish doesn't have Sunday night Masses, so we had to go to another church nearby.
Going to this church was actually kind of nostalgic. When Mike found out that I wanted to start attending church again he volunteered to go with me, so we went to this one because of the nighttime Mass. I think we only went once or twice...we soon found out that getting out of the apartment at night was actually harder than going first thing in the morning. However, it was still nice to go back.
They have a new priest there...well, a priest that's new to the parish anyway. He looked to be in his early sixties. I liked him on sight...he was thin, bald, stooped, and had thick glasses. He looked like he had spent a lot of time both studying and fasting, and he seemed like an appropriate guide for our journey through Mass.
The service was nice. It felt a little awkward because the melodies are different, the responses are different, but the overall Mass is so similar that you feel that you should be keeping up. Overall, though, I enjoyed it. It's nice to know that if we somehow miss the Masses at our home church, we have another nice church to go to.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
This is not the dumbest thing I've thought of
I posted in my other blog about how I wanted to try Natural Family Planning. I was shocked at how critical the reaction was. After reading Marc's statistics - which I really think are based on the Rhythm Method, not Fertility Awareness - Mike got very uneasy, and told me that he thinks that NFP is too risky to try. So it's back to the pills for me. All in all, this has been a huge disappointment. Mike told me that I could keep researching and reading about it, but I'd rather not. If he's going to chicken out in the end, then I'd rather not get my heart set on it more than I already have. I was really looking forward to not worrying about taking a pill at 9 PM every night, not being concerned if I missed one, not worrying about a future that featured cancer or blood clots or any of the other nasty side-effects that can come when you take birth control pills.
So, yeah. So much for that little experiment.
It does raise an interesting point, though. In both the posting on my blog and in my conversations with friends, they've questioned my motivation for trying NFP, which is my religion. There are other reasons I want to try it - reasons too personal, too numerous, and too irrelevant to the topic to go into here - but when they hear "Natural Family Planning," they instantly think "Catholic brainwashing."
Most of the time when I make choices that people disagree with, they say I'm nuts but don't pursue it much farther than that. When I renew my contract year after year at my poor urban high school, my friends roll their eyes but say they understand my decision. When I told Mike that I was going to start using menstrual cups because it was healthier for both me and the environment, he said it was weird, but it was also my body. When I chose to buy my Chevy Prizm based on the fact that it reminded me of my Geo Metro, my friends just shrugged and didn't say a word about researching warranties or resale value or reliability.
But when I make a choice and cite my religion as an influence in that decision, suddenly I'm wrong.
I hate to break it to everyone, but the vast majority of my decisions aren't based on scientific facts or hours of research. I buy things on a whim, I take the easy route, I cave in to peer pressure, I make decisions that will result in an immediate gain without considering the long-term repercussions. In short, I make choices for dumb reasons. I'm shocked that people consider my religious values to be worse criteria than other standards I've used.
Seriously, people. Let's think about this.
So, yeah. So much for that little experiment.
It does raise an interesting point, though. In both the posting on my blog and in my conversations with friends, they've questioned my motivation for trying NFP, which is my religion. There are other reasons I want to try it - reasons too personal, too numerous, and too irrelevant to the topic to go into here - but when they hear "Natural Family Planning," they instantly think "Catholic brainwashing."
Most of the time when I make choices that people disagree with, they say I'm nuts but don't pursue it much farther than that. When I renew my contract year after year at my poor urban high school, my friends roll their eyes but say they understand my decision. When I told Mike that I was going to start using menstrual cups because it was healthier for both me and the environment, he said it was weird, but it was also my body. When I chose to buy my Chevy Prizm based on the fact that it reminded me of my Geo Metro, my friends just shrugged and didn't say a word about researching warranties or resale value or reliability.
But when I make a choice and cite my religion as an influence in that decision, suddenly I'm wrong.
I hate to break it to everyone, but the vast majority of my decisions aren't based on scientific facts or hours of research. I buy things on a whim, I take the easy route, I cave in to peer pressure, I make decisions that will result in an immediate gain without considering the long-term repercussions. In short, I make choices for dumb reasons. I'm shocked that people consider my religious values to be worse criteria than other standards I've used.
Seriously, people. Let's think about this.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
NFP & FAM
Today Mike and I took a tour around town, and one of the places we stopped was the mall. After we ate lunch Mike suggested that we stop in Borders* so I can look for a book Jen recommended to me called Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It's partially about how to concieve, but it also has detailed information about the Fertility Awareness Method, which is a big part of Natural Family Planning. The big difference is that in FAM couples use condoms during the fertile period, while NFP couples abstain completely.
Sorry, Mike.
Anyway, it's not something that I'm going to do for sure, it's just something I'm checking out. Mike is pretty apprehensive, and I can't say I blame him. The thought of trying it makes me nervous too, but if it seems like it would work it's something I'd love to attempt.
So we'll see.
* Mike works for a bookstore, but not Borders. In my defense, though, his bookstore didn't have the book in stock and it was taking forever to come in, so I felt justified in going somewhere else. Mike kept his head down the whole time, though.
Sorry, Mike.
Anyway, it's not something that I'm going to do for sure, it's just something I'm checking out. Mike is pretty apprehensive, and I can't say I blame him. The thought of trying it makes me nervous too, but if it seems like it would work it's something I'd love to attempt.
So we'll see.
* Mike works for a bookstore, but not Borders. In my defense, though, his bookstore didn't have the book in stock and it was taking forever to come in, so I felt justified in going somewhere else. Mike kept his head down the whole time, though.
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