Friday, June 22, 2007

A Few More Pictures

Just a few more shots of some plants I saw during our drive yesterday. Sorry, but I don't know the names of these. There was just a general sign about how these were native plants.



And this one is a closer shot of the same plant above.

This weekend I hope to work a little on cleaning up our patio so get it in summertime condition. Also, I'll work on getting a menu put together. I've pretty much been winging it for the past couple of weeks. I need to get on track with that again.

Now, off to relax and read a little before bedtime.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Summer Drive

Today, the kids and I grabbed Grandma and went for a little summer drive by the coast. This area is always so nice especially on hot summer days like today. I didn't take too many pictures of the ocean, but I did manage to capture these:


In the background you can see a little lighthouse over by the palm trees.




This is a view looking down from where we were standing. There's a railing so you can't fall down this cliff. This part of the coast is all rocky. There's a small public beach about a mile away to the east.

There was a little museum on the grounds but I didn't get to really have a visit. Emily wanted to run around outside so I kept her company. Tomorrow I'll try to post some pictures of some native California plants that I saw.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Am I Missing Something?

I just read this story from the Fox News website and was dumbfounded. It's the news item about a missing California priest along with the WOMAN he was vacationing with! Nowhere does it mention the oddity of why would a supposedly celibate Catholic priest be vacationing with a woman, alone. I tried to ascertain whether perhaps he is an Anglican priest? Maybe? Was he vacationing with a group?

I hope they are found but it is also sad that a priest has taken to the ways of today's culture. What happened to the notion of not even giving the appearance of scandal or causing others to get the wrong impression. On the other hand, there are many holy priests still around. I see them and see the dedication with which they serve. I see their striving to be holy priests. Let's pray often for our priests.


PRAYER FOR PRIESTS
(By Cardinal Cushing)
0 Almighty, Eternal God,
look upon the face of Thy Son, and for love of Him Who is the Eternal
High-priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, 0 most compassionate God, that
they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their
vocation which is in them by the imposition of the Bishop's hands. Keep them
close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them so that they may never do
anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.
0 Jesus,
I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid
priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely and desolate priests; for Thy young
priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in
Purgatory.
But above all, I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me; the
priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at
whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me or helped and encouraged me; all the
priests to whom I am indebted in any other way. 0 Jesus, keep them all, close to
Thy heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen

Friday, June 15, 2007

Summer Vacation Begins

Summer vacation begins and now I have to be on the ball as far as scheduling goes. Ryan will still be at his preschool three days a week until the end of this month since we are paid for until then. But for all intents and purposes, I will have all three, all day. I have lots of things planned, fun things as well as a little academic stuff here and there.




Ryan "graduated" from Pre-K and he had a little ceremony at his school. The lighting was really bad so I couldn't get any good pictures of the little program they had but that's OK. Afterwards, we went to the ice cream shoppe for some ice cream and then had a little cake at home. He was excited to have a little celebration just for him.







Not sure what's up for this weekend. I do have to do a little shopping for Father's Day. Steve hasn't told me exactly what he'd like to do on Sunday. So that's still up in the air.


Now I'm off to cook some lunch.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Popping In

I realized that it's been over a week since I last posted! Not much going on here. Just the everyday stuff. I've been lax in my housework so I'm desperately trying to do catch up and do a little extra deep cleaning. Kathryn's bedroom needs some serious work. Emily will be moving into her room soon so we want to get furniture rearranged and the room newly painted before she moves in. Before we do that, we need to work on decluttering. I would like to get as much stuff done before school ends this coming Thursday. After that, all three kids will be home and the fun begins!

Today I have to catch up with laundry! I have lots of baskets of clean clothes to fold and put away. And I have to make my menu for the week! I haven't even thought about it and I need to go grocery shopping !! YIKES!!! I better get off the computer and get to work!

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Weekend Stuff

The weekend began Friday night taking in hubby Steve's baseball game. He hasn't played in 20+ years so this was an historic moment. The team is organized by my nephew and consists of many of his family members and friends. DH looked good playing but his body is not quite used to the workout. He enjoyed it though.



This morning, Ryan had his first session of his tennis class. We don't know where he picked up the desire to play tennis as we are mostly baseball, basketball, and soccer people but if he wants to try tennis, why not? I used to play in my younger college years (not very well, only PE courses) but havent' played since. Maybe if Ryan keeps up with it, I may join in too. I think it would do me good to get up off the computer chair and become a little more fit. I think I'm going to begin to feel left out. Steve has baseball, Kathryn has soccer, Ryan has baseball and tennis, Emily is chasing whatever ball happens to come her way, and that leaves me. I can surf pretty well (the web, that is), my fingers move well on the keyboard and turning book pages, but that's about it! I'll have to think about what I can do. Fitness walking is probably my best option right now.



This afternoon was spent at Chu*ck E. Che*ese. The kids had lots of fun playing the games. Of course at the end, the only thing they have to show for it is cheap toys that have already been misplaced. That whole racket reminds me of Las Ve*gas. Lots of bells and whistles and money spent in the hopes of meaningful winnings. The only thing you have to show for it is a lighter wallet. At least the money spent is not equivalent to what can be spent in Ve*gas. And the kids enjoy playing the arcade games.

Tomorrow should be a free day. We go to Mass in the morning then see what the rest of the day brings!