Waiting for the Great Pumpkin

We didn't have to wear the orange bows.  Yeah! Alice finally came out of the underwear drawer and joined me watching for the Great Pumpkin to show up in the Kittyrood area.  We think we were forgotten.  We had about 12 trick or treaters, though.  So, the keeper will be taking the Almond Joys to the office tomorrow so she can give them away. She cooked salmon and that was our treat.

All Hallows Eve

Early this evening when the keeper returned home, we readied our house for the Trick or Treat crowd.  The keeper only buys candy she really likes--Almond Joys.  There is protein there, she claims. But my sister Alice decided to hide from all the visitors in the keeper's underwear drawer.  We couldn't figure out where Alice went, and we looked far and wide.  But we heard her little mews coming from behind the closed closet doors, and then from the inside of the dresser.  She opened the drawer, and Lady Alice sleepily rolled over and went back to sleep.

The Exquisite Miss Emma

Miss Emma has been attending Mass very regularly now with her parents, Brenda and Arturo. Today, she got to spend time with her very proud godmother, Maria Teresa. She is so pretty, we think we would even like her.

A Festive Sunday

Yes, it's Sunday   So we don't have to tell you that we bid our keeper a fond adieu and went back to sleep. Last night all the power went off for several hours all over our area. We all huddled together and the keeper used flashlights to read. But we turned in earlier than usual.  But today after a great liturgy at the cathedral, the keeper got to be part of First Communion with two young women at St. L's.  It was nice and very personal...instead of being with 120 others, these two received special blessings, were included in the intercessions and even the eucharistic prayer.

Out on the Deck

Here is the lovely deck where the gentleman got married as the cathedral bells provided the music.

A Territorial? or Celestial? View

The new resident lucky enough to move into the room she visited will have an incredible view. She heard that one man there experienced quite a metanoia after listening for months to the daily call to prayer of the cathedral bells. He had his wedding on the patio and timed it to start when the bells rang.

Belated Board Orientation

Today the keeper left us again for the whole day, and she headed to CCS for the board orientation which was supposed to occur 6 months ago, but because of everyone's calendars, was rescheduled multiple times.  She spent the morning immersed in papers and balance sheets, which, to her delight, she found fascinating. But she got to spend the afternoon making site visits with Bill H.  She was excited to see Ozanam House and meet the residents.

The Symposium

Every aspect of the day was well thought out.  Dozens of brightly colored rebozos hung from the walls and over the tables of the conference room, and decorating each table were centerpieces with native beans and corn; the food was not from the Palisades but from a wonderful Mexican restaurant named Maya's; the entertainment was a children's bilingual choir. The keeper returned to us very pleased--excellent speakers, good reception of the ideas.  One of the most influential principals stated at the end of the day that this was one of the most important social justice issues of our time. We were pleased that the keeper did not stay to party with the planners, but instead she came home to us, and to plan a retreat for Saturday.  We would like to think we are the real reason.

Eventide

But by eventide, the grey damp pall lifted, and allowed for dramatic views from the windows.

A Rainy Welcome to Palisades

We had a pet-sitter again. The keeper left us yesterday for the Palisades where she was involved in a symposium on intercultural competencies. This is something she has been advocating for the past 10 years, and finally they had the two bishops, pastors, principals all coming together to learn from two very fine presenters. But upon arrival at the Palisades, the clouds ripped open and poured sheets of rain.  The keeper sat in her car for 15 minutes before trying to brave the elements. She got soaked anyway.

Monday in the Costco Lair

The keeper had errands today in the rain...a garden store and COSTCO.  She usually likes to go to Costco on Tuesday mornings, but she forgot what happens when she goes on a Monday morning, and in the rain, at that.  Had everyone decided to start their holiday shopping?  It was clogged with those huge carts, with mindless shoppers texting, others driving the motorized carts like blind people, everyone jostling to grab items as if they were the last items on the shelf. The keeper has never seen an empty shelf at Costco. The check out lines were very long, and she wished she had brought a book and some headphones. " Never again," she told us when she came home. " Never again." We'll see about that.

Rain

Rain makes the leaves all shiny.  Most of them are landing on the ground these days. Both Alice and I are finding it worth only a five minute trip outside.  and then when we come back she dires us with a towel.  It's quite nice, actually. We notice that the keeper is wearing turtlenecks again. There is talk of soup making. This only happens when it is cold,

Gratitude

The keeper left us this morning for the Cathedral and later to Bothell. She tells us that she is drawn to visiting with her friend, John XXIII. He looks nice enough, and we think he might be nice enough to even like cats. We hear there are a lot of cats in Rome.

Happy St. Kateri Weekend

This weekend tens of thousands of indigenous people celebrated in St. Peter's Square as Kateri Tekakwitha was proclaimed St. Kateri. Our friend Natch preached about this event so well today and also included St. MariAnne Cope who was also canonized for her work with hundreds of lepers in Hawaii.

Halloween Prep

Tonight the keeper left us for the nail spa.  She was the only one today who did not get designs like those above.  She noted that she was tempted, but decided to opt for a more elegant, simple single color.  However, we appreciated the fact that the nail artist painted cats on the other clients' nails.

Summer on the Front Porch Still

Today the weather took a turn toward winter.  The wind was biting, and we all shivered. The heat came on inside. But the flowers on the front porch don't seem to mind.  The fire lilies and the hollyhocks keep blooming and so do the geraniums.  She brought home pumpkins yesterday, and we think we will be putting them on the front porch with the hollyhocks.

SU Autumn

The keeper came home today very happy with her two days of teaching at SU.  She seems to really like her students, and is very impressed with their ability to go deep and enter into the spirit of the class. But we are thinking we may go to bed early tonight as well, since she is pretty tired. She isn't that young anymore, you know, and two days being on from 8-4 is a lot.  We get it. She's finally eating dinner at her usual hour again, 9 pm.

Morning at SU

The keeper has been going to bed early so she can get up very early to be at SU for two long class days. We were concerned that it would be really rainy and windy with awful traffic.  However, the last two mornings have been beautiful and we waved her goodbye as the sun was rising all cantaloupe orange and lavender.  We were happy to go back to sleep once we ate our very early breakfasts because we didn't think we needed to worry about her in the rain. We are impressed that she is actually going to bed early and getting up early.  It is such a switch for her.

Back to the Opera

Photo taken of the TV monitor...no, she didn't take this during the opera!

She came home, she got dressed up for Opening Night of Fidelio, and left us yet again.  We weren't sure that she would like its contemporary setting. But she and W raved about it-- their favorite conductor, the sets, and the singers were all hauntingly powerful in such a contemporary setting. And additionally, because they are such frequent flyers at Prelude, the restaurant, they received complimentary food! 

Back to Parenting Classes

The rains came back and now we are adjusting to the Saturday routine which means she is up early and gone for most of the day.  This year, though, she goes to Bellevue.  They started Parenting Classes today to groups of the 120 families whose children are in First Eucharist prep all morning.  We hear it went very very well. The word is getting out to the other parents that this is the class to take.

Floors Finished!

The tile guys came back today to finish putting the brushed metal transition plates on our doorways. The keeper had complained about the grout, but once the supervisor cleaned it, the kitchen looked pretty good. What she doesn't understand is why some workers don't know the meaning of "clean up the mess" once the work is done.

Happy Century!

Today was a special day for our extended family.  The keeper's Aunt Ruth who lives in Marin County celebrated her 100th birthday today! She has lived a most amazing life. What class, charm, and energy! Happy Birthday, Aunt Ruth!

A Welcome Arrival

Not only did the keeper have a fabulous day yesterday all over town, but when she finally got home from the Komonchak lecture on Vatican II, she found her favorite poet's new book waiting for her, and so were we.  But we think she was way more interested in the book.

A Lovely Anniversary Lunch

 First, the keeper was given a tour of some important rooms on the second floor of the rectory. And she found Maria's new office worthy of a college president or a pastor. Corinna's was also lovely with a  great view and wonderful art.

They repaired to the Rhododendron for pasta and conversation about a great many topics. They actually got some work done as well!

Friends from St. Anne's

This morning the keeper made two new friends: Ilse and her dog Pele joined the retreat. Ron mentioned that Pele the dog is quite a prayerful creature, as is his keeper.

Celebrating the Anniversary of Vatican II

This morning the keeper left us early because she had been invited to a parish to offer a morning of reflection on this anniversary of the Opening of Vatican II. The chapel at St. Anne's former convent is reminiscent of Santa Fe, and the group of parish women who gathered were true witnesses to the power of the Vatican II and the power of discipleship.

Flooring, Chapter Three

She came home to give us dinner and was quite pleased with the bathroom as well. She doesn't know if she can walk on it, though.  We were waiting to see what she thought of the kitchen, especially since Sergei left her a voice mail in very broken Russian/English, which she think meant  "The kitchen, don't go into it." When she saw the blue tape, she understood.  But we think she likes the kitchen. Tonight we had no problem eating, but she has to eat off of the very fine china and drink out of the very fine crystal because she can't go into the kitchen where the normal stuff is.  She can't reach the silverware, so she was going to the garage to raid the picnic basket. Plasticware goes well with the good stuff! She could reach the corkscrew though. We think she might stay with us tonight. We hope so.

Flooring, Chapter Two

The keeper came home this morning to feed us.  We had gotten worried she was gone for good and we would have to eat the tile guys and then get sent back to Whisker City.  She left soon after, though, heading back to her friend's quiet spot to prepare a class and a retreat.  But she gave us some Kitty Downers in liquid form before leaving.  SO, we lounged around in a druggy haze most of the day.  Imagine our surprise when we came to and noticed that the bathroom was being reassembled. Does this mean the keeper will come home early? We are not sure that it can be stepped on yet, but we think she will like it.

Bidden or Not Bidden...

The keeper is staying at a friend's while the tile is being put in. He assured her that his alarm was turned off before he left on his trip, and that she would not have any hassle. Not so. After coming in using the special code she was greeted with "Intrusion! Intrusion!! Sunset 7, Sunset 8, etc..." She could not turn it off, and she silently waited for the police to take her away. But they were all busy with a three house fire on the lake, so never came.  Finally, neighbors helped, and the alarm is on holiday as well now. And the keeper is tucked safely into her temporary  home while we guard ours. We didn't have to move because our litter boxes are still in working order through this tile project. Thank God.

New Tiles

We all needed to get up quite early today because the tile guys were coming at 8.  We were not thrilled at the idea, since Monday is our day off.  However, the keeper informed us that she was working today, and that we needed to all use the bathroom before it became unusable. The tile guys are ripping out the ugly linoleum in both the bathroom and the kitchen and putting in tile.  You can see the new gray and white tile on the bottom right corner of the top picture.  The kitchen will be Versailles Grey that looks like stone.  Guess what? They showed up by 9:15. And they made a great deal of noise ripping things out. There is dust all over everything, and we are grateful the keeper was gone for most of the day.  She would not be happy to see the mess. At least our food was placed in a dust free area. This may take a few more days, we hear. They tore up the kitchen floor to find some really awful linoleum underneath the present layer. But, thinking for the long term, probably someone a while from now will sniff and say the same thing about what we are laying down.

Revenge is Back!

Revenge has been one of our guilty pleasures since the keeper discovered it last year. It used to be at 10 on Wednesdays.  Now it is at 9 on Sundays.  A much better time, until it collides with Masterpiece Theatre's new runs.  She might have to figure out how to record things when that happens. But the keeper found that this is a guilty pleasure of a young woman who worked with her last year.  They text through the show. Tonight we found out that someone didn't die, that someone isn't the father of Amanda's child, and among lots of other twists and turns, that Nolan got a pretty cute haircut.

Fall Cathedral Evening

The keeper got her voice back enough to read this evening at the cathedral.  It was a beautiful liturgy.  Peter Ehly's homily was superb, and it all just clicked. On the way home to us, she said that she was overcome by the incredible back-lit plummy-tangerine sky that put the mountains and city in shadowy silhouette. We were impressed, but still asked to eat right away.

Happy Birthday, Mike the Boy!

Mike, formerly known as the boy, to differentiate him from Mike the Dog, turned 58 today in sunny San Diego! This is a special birthday for him since he may not have been here to celebrate it had it not been for modern cardiology at Scripps this summer.  We are all grateful! In his birthday message to the world, he mentioned the fact that our father was 57 when he was born, and he marvelled at the thought of what it must have been like to be 58 with three children running around wild, all under 6. Happy Birthday, brother!

Sun Bathing

What a great day!  It's October, and here we are taking sun baths on the deck!  Both Alice and I stretched out most of the day soaking it in.  The keeper should have joined us. She has a pesky cold, and stayed inside to work at the computer, since she didn't feel like infecting eastsiders. We think she was working on budgets because we heard all kinds of muttering.

Happy Blessed Mother Mary Rose Day!

Because of Blessed Mother Mary Rose, the keeper was/is incredibly blessed to have these women in her life--some when she was pretty young, others, much later. Each one of them helped her identify her gifts and held her to them, with  great encouragement, whether it was drama, music, social justice, poetry, writing, languages, theology, spiritual discernment, leadership, truth telling, and laughter!