Heather's Blogpile

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The cathedral Tour guides say the National Cathedral is the largest gothic cathedral in North America, and the 6th largest cathedral in the world (see http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/

The truely amazing thing to MCCers was - just 30 years ago the cathedral had been locked to prevent Troy Perry from having a service there. Now, in 2005, we were there having a major church service.

All MCC Clergy was invited to attend, so Emma had offered to help serve communion. I was able to participate as well - to be her communion holder! What an honor to be able to serve in such a historic service.

The whole service was being taped for release on DVD later, so they asked that we not take flash pictures during the service, but I did get a few photos before and after the main event. The pulpit behind us was an a beautifully carved stone structure, and was the last pultpit Martin Luther King preached from. The ceiling is 100 foot above the floor - its impossible to get a real feel for this worship space in photos - you have got to visit there.

Here is a link to the MCC website with photos, the text of Nancy Wilson's sermon and more specifics

Posted by Heather at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well - for the next 3 years at least ...

Posted by Heather at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This project has gone so wrong I've built a webpage just for it - see http://www.thewebgal.com/homework/bathroom.html

A few years back, Emma was in the half bath just behind the stove in the kitchen and she noticed a dark spot on the ceiling. When she reached up to touch it, her hand went right through the surface, into wet plaster! Thats how we found out we had a problem with the tile around the tub in the upstairs bathroom. I pulled the old tile down and found another layer of tile under that - 2 rows deep! I'm a fan of HGTV and all the renovation shows, so I knew I could save some money if I did the initial demolition. Break out the googles and have at it! I stripped the wall down to the bare studs, then packed it full of Fiberglass insulation to keep the room comfy.

We spoke to various contractors and got bids, and finally signed a contract with one firm May 18, 2005. It was our first experience with contractors - and its been like all the home remodeling gone bad movies you ever saw ...

They came in and did some initial work, but its been a comedy of errors (but ...it ain't funny!). We wanted to get the fixtures (tub, toilet and sink) in an offwhite color - so when their estimator wrote up the the contract he said "offwhite, almond/biscuit - any color but white" .

So of course, when they brought the new tub, it was white. Fortunately, we noticed while it was still outside, before it was installed, so we reminded them of the contract and had them take it back and exchange it for an almond tub.

Posted by Heather at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Heather at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who are these folks, what is their background - what do THEY mean when they say "alternative" .. They are just starting their website at http://www.alternativebroadcasting.org/

Have you been complaining about the radio stations in the Northern VA/DC area for a while? Well, so have we and we've decided to do something to fix the problem. Alternative Broadcasting will be one of the few non-profit, locally-owned radio station this area has seen in. Our objective? To rescue Northern VA by providing an alternative to the highly commercialized environment of radio in the area. Not only will Alternative Broadcasting bring you everything you loved about the late 99.1WHFS, but we also plan on providing all the genres derived from rock, including punk rock, emo, screamo, prog rock, metal, indie, ska, Brit pop, classic rock, and even music from local bands! Will any other station offer you that kind of musical diversity?

Alternative Broadcasting will be launched in early November from right here on our web site! However, we'll need your support to get our commercial-free station on the FM airwaves. Wanna help? Have some spare change? Make a donation by visiting our Donate page. Every penny counts and it all goes towards making Alternative Broadcasting a reality. Together, we can bring the DC area the kind of radio station it really deserves.

Posted by Heather at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Posted by Heather at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)