Category Archives: Family

Ash Wednesday Thoughts

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brother and sister at piano
My kids at a piano recital. I’m posting this photo from years ago because my daughter would say she was giving up piano lessons for Lent.

I’m going to try and go to Ash Wednesday services today. I say “try” because the church by our house is so busy! On special days, I can’t make a right hand turn to go 1/2 mile to get to the parish because the cars are lined up at least a mile down the street. I sit at the stop sign, hoping for someone to let me in. I’ve had to turn around and go home because nobody let me in. How Christian of them!

I do believe that Lent is a good time to reflect on our lives. One Ash Wednesday service in past years stands out to me. Rather than giving something up — like chocolate or alcohol — the priest suggested doing something. He talked about investing more time in prayer or volunteering to help someone else. He felt it should be a time of giving of ourselves. He suggested reading the book of Mark from the Bible during the 40 days of Lent.

I’m a convert to Catholicism so I had to learn about Lent. I didn’t grow up with it. My kids did and my daughter always said she was giving up piano lessons for Lent. Yes, she hated piano. I thought piano had so many benefits and forced her to take lessons, years beyond what I should have done, she often reminds me.

If you don’t observe Lent and wonder what it’s all about, here’s a definition from Britannica:

Lent, in the Christian church, a period of penitential preparation for Easter. In Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and provides for a 40-day fast (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry. In Eastern churches Lent begins on the Monday of the seventh week before Easter and ends on the Friday that is nine days before Easter. This 40-day “Great Lent” includes Saturdays and Sundays as relaxed fast days.

Here’s a link to Good Housekeeping’s article called 25 Creative Things to Give Up for Lent in 2021: From gossip and complaining to junk food and coffee, ditching these habits could change your life by Juliana Labianca. There are a lot of good ideas to do in that article that could improve your life — whether or not you observe Lent.

Another thing I’m doing is taking a 40-day Lenten Challenge on the Hallow App. It’s with Mark Wahlberg, Chris Pratt, Jonathan Roumie and Fr. Mike Schmitz. If you haven’t tried Hallow, I really enjoy it and recommend it to add to your prayer life.

Do you have plans for Lent? If so, what are they?

What are your thoughts about doing something as opposed to giving up something?

Blooms, blossoms and cacti

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I was given a Christmas Cactus by a friend four years ago. It looks pretty healthy, but until this past week, it’s never bloomed. Fellow blogger Busy Bee Suz who has a green thumb — which is something I lack — suggested that I move my Christmas Cactus. I moved it by the sliding glass door and a few weeks later it has two buds! How exciting is that?

While I switched from my 80-400 mm lens that I use to take Red and Mrs. photos to my 105mm Macro Lens, I took a few other photos. These were outside in the backyard.

We have three bougainvillea we planted a few months ago. They are thriving in the sun. In Palm Springs, we had bougainvillea that never took off. This is very encouraging!

Aren’t they beautiful?

Yesterday was my first day I managed to take a little walk post surgery. I was disappointed because my foot hurt in my tennis shoes. I had to wear flip flops with very little support. My foot is bruised and a little swollen so the tennis shoes rubbed my foot and were a no go!

It felt good to move around even though it was a short walk. My husband and I like to walk and talk. I shared a memory with him from my childhood. It was good to laugh together.

The Memory

When I was three and my brother was five, we went as a family to a church retreat camp staying in a tiny cabin in the woods of Washington. There were families from our Presbyterian church as well as ones from other parts of the state. Along with the small cabins, there was a meeting hall where we gathered as a group.

I remember sitting in the first row with my family, when the pastor asked if anyone wanted to share something with the group. My brother jumped up. He grabbed the microphone and belted out “Edelweiss” from the Sound of Music! I wonder what my parents thought? As his worshipping little sister, I was so proud.

“Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever…”

These lyrics were stuck in my head after photographing the blossoms above. That’s probably why I remembered this blast from the past.

We have lots of these cacti in our yard. They are only about three feet tall, much smaller than saguaro — although they look similar. I think they are called Cardon Cacti and they are spikier than saguaro cacti.

Do you have any silly memories to share from your childhood?

What would you have thought as my parents when my brother sang Edelweiss?

Reflections on the week

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This year, we planted several bougainvillea. I love the color they add to our yard. They are small now and I can’t wait to see how much they grow in a few years. We had to replace several due to our javelina buddies who ate them.

I’m sharing several plant photos from around our yard. It’s been a very quiet week of rest, elevating and icing my foot. The pain has not been too bad post surgery. Honestly, not much has been going on this week and I’m enjoying the quiet.

We are meeting a fellow swim mom from our Palm Springs team later today who was one of my swim mom mentors. Her daughter went to ASU for college and lives nearby. The daughter was an All American collegiate swimmer and held ASU records. She and her husband had a baby recently and her mom is here to do grandma duties for her daughter’s return to work. It will be my first outing post surgery.

I always enjoy getting together with people from a former phase of my life. It seems as though no time has passed and we can reminisce about our parenting days.

The weather is beautiful and I’m loving sitting outside enjoying the sun reading, since there’s not much I can do — except for a small walk wearing my boot.

This photo was taken with me seated looking up at a mesquite tree branch.

Our fire sticks are turning bright orange. We have several plants throughout the yard. Why is it called “fire stick?” Not only does it resemble a stick on fire with its orange color, its sap is toxic and causes a burning sensation on skin and in eyes, leading to severe irritation and potential temporary blindness. I’m always careful walking by them.

I love these plants called Fairy Dusters. They do remind me of fairies. They can be light pink to a darker red like this one.

I hope you enjoyed my plant photos. Yes, I’ve seen Red but he’s staying far away in the wash behind our house. I’ve seen him where I believe their nest is in the cholla cactus.

Happy Friday! What plans do you have for the weekend?

They have bigger squirrels — plus other sights of Berekeley

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I watched this squirrel who is much larger than my little Harris’ Antelope Squirrel of the Sonoran Desert. I watched this guy scramble up the chain link fence and dance around the tennis players.

Our trip to help our son post surgery plus spend time with our daughter and DIL, has come to a close. We’ll see them in a few weeks at Christmas, which seems unbelievable! Time flies when you’re having fun.

Here are a few sights I saw on my way to the French bakery near the hotel:

Morning Glories!

This was a Bonzai in front of a house.

A very happy house, indeed!

I think this is some sort of a maple, but I’ve never seen one shaped like this.

At the bakery waiting in line. My son said this is the best bakery in the East Bay.

When a place is good and has a reputation there is a line. I waited in line for 30 minutes for sandwiches. They sold out within an hour Saturday, so Sunday I went right at 11 a.m. when they start selling them. Once inside, I read the sign that said: “Sandwiches Tuesday through Saturday.”

Oh well. I found a few other things to try.

Whew! Back at the hotel with a box of goodies. Ready to visit the kids for one last time before we head home.

Once home, it’s unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping and feeling grounded again.

What on the agenda for your week?

Views from the Claremont

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I wish I had my camera, but on Veterans Day I spent some time taking pictures with my iphone around the Claremont Resort and Club, the historic hotel where we’re staying. I had to get photos while I could — because an atmospheric river and torrential rain was in the forecast for the rest of our trip.

Two days later it is pouring! I’m at my son’s apartment now and I couldn’t leap over the river that was rushing down the curb by his sidewalk. Now I’ve got soaking wet shoes and socks!

Flag at half mast for Veterans Day.

The hallway to our room. The blue light doesn’t show to the naked eye. I think it’s an effect of blue panels along the wall and the light reflecting on them.

Views of San Francisco from the resort.

Views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The lobby.

Looking from a balcony on the Lobby level towards the tennis courts.

Another city view.

A view of the hotel.

The Club — gym, swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room — can be found at the building in the background. The Club has memberships for local residents for tennis, swimming and the gym. It even has a youth swim team who practices there.

A view towards the Club from the Lobby.

Where are some of your favorite places to visit and favorite hotels?

Remember when?

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One of my all time favorite movies growing up. It was broadcast on TV annually around Halloween.

Remember when we used to watch broadcast TV as a family? We didn’t have cable and there were three main stations, ABC, NBC and CBS. We had a local channel and PBS. That was it.

During holidays, we’d gather as a family in front of the TV and watch the holiday-themed movies. Mom would make popcorn in a big pot on the stove. If we were really lucky, we’d get to help shake the foil covered Jiffy Pop over a burner. For Halloween we’d watch Wizard of Oz and The Great Pumpkin.

Christmas included movies that my parents liked including It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. I liked Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas and Frosty the Snowman. My parents had us watch A Christmas Carol, but it was way to scary for me with the ghosts of Christmas past. When I had kids, I introduced my kids to my childhood favorites plus Meet Me in St. Louis.

Now that it’s Lent and Easter Season there are more movies to watch together as a family. I admit as soon as cable and streaming came into our lives, we don’t watch movies together very often. We watch TV together more for football games than any movies. My husband and I end up in separate rooms watching TV, reading or listening to podcasts on our laptops.

I wrote about five Easter movies HERE.

This is a movie I remember watching as a family on Easter weekend.

Do you watch movies together as a family?

What were your favorite holiday movies growing up?

A New Pet — Sort Of

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I’ve been heartbroken since I had to say good-bye to Olive, my daughter’s cat, who I adopted after she left for college. Olive was a highlight of my quiet life in Arizona. Since we said good-bye to her in November, I’ve noticed a Bird Buddy who is wiggling into my heart.

No, I’m not getting another cat or dog. My son has asthma and allergies. I wasn’t getting rid of Olive because our son seemed okay in our new house — until his last visit. I guess a few years’ worth of cat dander added up. I won’t subject him to a new cat or dog. If I did, he’d probably skip visiting us altogether.

So here’s my new pet. Like I said, sort of. He waits for me every morning to fill the feeder. He’s first to rush in for his fill of seeds. Then I hear him sing and flit around the yard for a few hours. He comes back at the end of the day. We spend time looking at each other. I find myself imitating his tilt of the head and he tilts back at me.

My husband asked what I was going to name him. I chose Ollie but my husband thinks it’s too close to Olive. Which was the point, I might add. His idea was Kramer due to the Cardinal’s hair do. I might settle on Cosmo, which was Kramer’s first name in Seinfeld. Or, I’ll stick to Ollie. Time will tell.

We used to have a Cardinal couple who frequented the bird feeder. The females are not as colorful is how you tell them apart. This Cardinal is alone all the time. I don’t know if he was part of the couple who used to stop by. Cardinals mate for life, so I sure hope he didn’t lose his wife.

Cardinals have a beautiful song and I always know when my new sort of pet is near.

Here’s a video from my Bird Buddy AI feeder:

What do you think of the choices of names for my new bird buddy?

What frequent visitors do you have from nature to enhance your lives?