Light 58/365

Okay, this picture wasn't really taken on Tuesday. I didn't take one on that day, but took this at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in Anaheim on Friday. This congress goes from Thursday (Youth Day) through Sunday. There are hundreds of different seminars to attend, concerts to listen to, and of course shopping. At this conference, there are hundreds of vendors that show their wares. As I was waking through the exhibits, I was struck by the sight of the candles. The cluster was just beautiful.

Stone Beer 62/365

Guest Blogger: Roger

My cousin Ron, who is more like a brother and good friend, came over last night and we reminisced about my uncle. We also drank some beer. Stone Beer is one of the few positive things that California sends out to the rest of the country. Do yourself a favor and try Stone. Do yourself a bigger favor - just have one.

Religious Congress 61/365

Congress can be a little chaotic and confusing. There are about 12,000 - 15, 000 people there on any given day. As I was standing still, people watching, I spied these two nuns. Among the movement of all the people, here they stand still. Are they looking at the program book to figure out where to go next? Or are they praying?

Quiet and stillness among the noise.

Men's Warehouse Express 60/365

On this day we buried Uncle Ron. May he rest in peace.

A few days ago, Roger offered to loan his dad, Roger Sr, a suit for the funeral. Roger's cousin, Teresa heard about this and asked if her fiance, Raymond, could borrow a suit too, as they left the Bay area quickly and without packing too many things. So my Roger took a bag of shoes, ties, and a couple of arm loads of suits to his dad's place. There Roger Sr. and Raymond tried on various suits, shirts, ties, and shoes. Each of them picked clothing that suited them (no pun inteded!) as well as shoes. As Roger Sr, was cleaning out the suit coat pockets, he found 22 cents as well as the program from MY dad's funderal, nine years ago!!! I guess that suit hasn't been worn very often!!!

As for my Danny, we had to go out to get him dress pants, dress shirt, and dress shoes. He is wearing on of my dad's suit coats that he gave me, maybe 20 years ago and one of his dad's ties.

Don't they all look handsome?! R-L Danny, Roger, Raymond, Roger Sr.

Ash Wednesday 59/365

It is the beginning of Lent. Each year we attend Mass as a school. Ashes are distributed. Usually the ashes look like crosses or smudges of dirt on our forheads. Look closely at this cross, you can actually see a heart tilting to the right. God's love for us. "For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting." John 3:16

Macro Pizza 57/365

Dinner. We keep frozen pizzas in the freezer for quick dinners. Life is busy but we still need to eat. Roger thinks pizza is the perfect food - grains (crust), veggies, and meat. What more do you need???

Family Loss 56/365

Today my husband's family is feeling the loss of someone very special. Uncle Ron passed away very early this morning, leaving a loving wife of 44 years, a devoted son and daughter, and six grandchildren. He also leaves a brother and his family, as well as his father. Of course, there are all the in-laws, nieces and nephews and their families.

I am so happy for Uncle Ron because today he is with God. Yet there is so much sadness in our hearts. I think that we cry and grieve because he is no longer with us here. We grieve and cry for each other. When my husband was a child, his family and the family of Uncle Ron were very close. The aunts and uncles were like second moms and dads to the cousins, who were more like brothers and sisters. My tears are for his entire family and for my husband.

Losing a parent is not easy. My own dad passed away nine years ago. There were days when my grief was so heavy, I could not breath. The heaviness has lightened through the years, but there are many days when I just miss him so much. I wonder about what could have been...

Please pray for Uncle Ron and his family. These days will be heavy for his kids, my husband's cousins. The days will be dark for his wife, my husband's aunt. They will get through it. They will be changed.

Macro Flowers 55/365

I am trying to figure out how to use my new telephoto lens. It has macro capabilities, so that is what I used for these photos. The flowers are from the Valentine's bouquet from Roger. I had to place the boquet on a low table and my camera on a fully extended tripod. These are the best shots of the 65 I took!! In photos 2 and 4, I am pleased with the clarity of the stamen. The stamen on the pink flower looks like it has sugar on it. I think my favorite photos are the white mum-type flower (3rd photo) and the white daisy (last photo).

Funny Nun! 54/365

Tonight Roger and I saw Late Nite Catechism 2. (It was a fundraiser for our school.) If you ever attended Catholic school or attended CCD as a child, you would find this show very funny. In this one woman (nun) show, Sister uses humor to explain she conducts her "class" in an overview of Heaven and Hell, comparing them to a catholic version of Chutes and Ladders. It was pretty good - nice way to end the work week.

Trying to get better 53/365

These are my companions today. I called in sick today to get some rest. I'm going to take a nap.

I just got back from urgent care. The calvary is on the way - Zythromax is now in the system. Brighter days on the way. :-)

Sick 52/365

First was a chest infection, next laryngitis, and now the chest infection again. I had a slight fever last night, but went to work today. When I got home I was exhausted! I laid down on the couch to take a little nap. I just can't get rid of this bug and get better. Danny was kind enough to take today's picture of the day.

Resting Clouds 51/365

There was no rain today. Just clouds. On the way home today, I spied this cloud foramation "resting" on one of the local mountains. Just like a blanket of cotton.

Dazed and Confused 50/365

Today was another rainy day. Quite a bit of rain fell, sometime extremly heavy! The first shot is of my backyard. Hopefully you can see all the rain drops. Everytime we send Clifford out of the house today, he would run around the yard, smelling the air and bark at the rain! He could not quite understand what was going on. It was quite a sight to see this dog with his nose in the air like this! Silly dog...

Daytona 500 49/365

Woohoo! It's racing season again!! The Great American Race is today and I'm all over it! My T.V. has been on since 8:00 this morning!!! (I know. I'm nuts!) I'm a HUGE Jeff Gordan and Jimmie Johnson Fan!!

Unfortunately, the race ended with a Red Flag (they stopped the race) because of the rain. The winner ended up to be Matt Kenseth. Oh well. Next week is Fontana...

Happy Valentine's Day 48/365

I love my husband! I am blessed to have my best friend as my Valentine.

Pampering 47/365

Today I had the day off. Nice!! I slept in. Even nicer!! Today was a wet and cold day. Perfect for staying in and doing nothing. But instead, I decided to get my fingers and toes done. I love getting a pedicure!!

M and W 46/365

It's the 2nd Thursday of the month!! Yippee!! Bunco night!!

My name is spelled with an "i". What a delight it was to find another Judi in the world that spells her name JUDI... We were both named Judith after St. Jude (again, how cool is that???). But neither of us fit the name Judith - sounds a bit victorian to me. Both of us do fit the bill for Judi - perky and fun! hehehe.

Bunco night we were both laughing lots and having such a good time. I forgot my camera, but thanks Judi (W), she had her camera phone and we took this shot. How could you not have fun with us???

Valentines 45/365

So Dan's in 7th grade now. How do 13 year olds celebrate Valentine's day? The store bought cards are geared towards the younger ages. So, crazy me, I asked if I could make cards for his class. He didn't care one way or the other. With my stamps, inks, punches, and ribbons all set out, I had an assembly line going to complete the cards. Actually, it didn't take too long to make them. I'm sure the girls will appreciate them, but the boys??? With the kind of work I've had this week, making the cards was a stress release and relaxing.

Cold Morning Clouds 44/365

Close to our place, there is a processing plant of some sort - I'm not quite sure exactly what it is. On cold mornings, the steam from the plant adds to the exsisting clouds. On this morning, it was especially pretty because of the blue of the sky and the shadows of the clouds.

Snow Capped Mountians 43/365

Okay, how often do you see palm trees next to snow capped mountains??? We had a nice, wet winter storm this past weekend. The result is lots of snow in our local mountains. It's great that we can LOOK at the snow without having to drive in it!

Who's Move is it? 42/365

Here are the boys enjoying the boys a cold, wet Sunday evening.

Rainy Day 40/365

A heavy rainstorm pummeled our area today. It is supposed to rain through the weekend. I actually don't mind the rain. A list of things I like about winter rain:

1.flannel pajamas

2. grilled cheese sandwiches

3.hot chocolate (or tea) 4.fuzzy slippers

4.watching old movies

5.a good book

6.cool wind

7.the water cleans the trees, grass, ground, and air

8.the sound of rain

9.wet flowers

10. rainbows

DVR 39/365

Whose idea was it to get the DVR??? There are good and bad points: Good - it records all the shows I don't have time to watch. Bad - It records all the shows I don't have time to watch!!! Good - I don't have to watch another commercial if I don't want. Bad - when do I have time to go to the restroom since there are no more commercials???

Here's a funny little story about the DVR... the other night Danny and I were watching Fraiser (love that show!!!) On the show, the doorbell rang. Well, Clifford started barking and ran to the front door. Danny called him back and told him it was just the t.v. With this DVR contraption, you can rewind the show that is currently on. Danny rewound the show to just about where the doorbell rang, called Clifford and told him it was just the t.v. and then pushed play. Ding Dong!! Bark Bark Bark!! He thought it was our doorbell!! Well, this went on for about three more rewinds!! He still didn't get it... Silly dog...

Happy Color 38/365

I finished my dishcloth today. This is the first one I have done in about a year. I had to look at my books again to figure out how to cast on and how to do the knit stitch. It's not the best I've done, being that some stitches are loose and others are too tight. But that's okay! The colors make me smile. I even have enough yarn to make a smaller towel. Then I'll use another color. I may even try to mix purl stitch with the knit. Oh my...

Bed Time 37/365

It's my bedtime. But wait!! I haven't taken a picture yet!! What do I do???

Colors!! 36/365

I love to color! I love back to school sales because I can get a new box of crayons. Whenever my students get to do a coloring assignment, I join them too! They like it when I sit next to them, at their desk and color with them. I find coloring relaxing and it is quite a stress reliever.

Is it EVER empty?? 35/365

I don't know about you, but my dishwasher is never empty. As soon as it is full, I run the dishwasher. Then I ask Danny to empty it. Of course, there is always something in the sink ready to be put in the washer. I think the only time it's empty is when we are on vacation!

The idea of this project is to celebrate the "ordinary" in my life. This is definitely part of the ordinary. But really, I can be thankful and grateful for the dirty dishes that we accumulate for we have enough food to put on those plates.