New Year's Eve Moon

Such a clear beautiful day to end 2014. And the moon is equally enchanting!

Diner Breakfast

The keeper and her friend showed up a little groggy at the cathedral because they stayed up very late cleaning up.  But she didn't come home after Mass right away because she had breakfast with an old friend who is now moving to Spokane to start new ministries. Now she is home with me. I doubt we will stay up late.

Christmas soirée

The keeper and her sister in spatial dyslexia hosted a Christmas soiree for valiant women and valiant men. They needed to fit a lot of people in a small space.  They added three leaves to the table, and then tried to figure out how to fit 12 chairs around it. They practiced and took photos to remember. It was worth the engineering required.

Two guests brought them Elsa hats. They wore them for quite a while.

Good conversation and great people! The valiant seemed to like the food.

Then they began to sing Christmas carols wrung through the Google translator.

" Dolph, large tundra mammal!" 

or " Away manager, in bed without crib, small Mr. Jesus lay down his head..."

Christmas Dinner for Five

I helped her host a small dinner for Christmas.  

They had good food, good conversation, and time to open lots of lovely gifts. 

They shared food and gifts with me.

I wouldn't pose for the photo wearing my candy cane bow, however.

St. James Christmas Day

She crossed from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day at St. James. She forgot to leave the tv on so I could watch her at Midnight Mass. But others did. But she told me that the environment was stunning and she liked the new arrangement of the manger scene. Note the one eared donkey.

Waiting for Santa and Waiting Some More!

Santa was a little slow in arriving, despite the NORAD report. They went upstairs to wait and sing and wait and sing and wait and sing. Finally they heard the front door slam shut, and scampered down to find a pile of presents and stockings in the center of the living room. MG did note that Santa's elves or Santa have penmanship a lot like her parents'.

Christmas Eve Dinner and More

She left me with my gourmet cat food, KING FM, a tree with presents and a few cat gifts, and she headed for her good friends for dinner, Santa, and dessert. 

Such a pretty family.

Such amazing children who are so mature!

Four Days Until Christmas!

Hello, readers.  I apologize on behalf of the keeper for her inability to post things for me here. She has been a little too busy in my opinion.  But she finally stayed home long enough to help me with this blog.  She had them ready but forgot to post. So, sigh, we are about a week behind schedule.  Here are a few things we were up to before Christmas.

First, there was the miracle at the gas pump. 

Then there was the miracle of the hair cut which made her look a lot better.

Then she spent time in the rain at the Market along with thousands of others, bringing home treats for us and for friends. Little sacks of sugary and savory treats, flowers, fruit. 

Lux

The skylight in the hallway in front of the keeper's office showed blue sky today.

The keeper came home to ML's surprise lighting of the deck. The keeper had planned spending time doing that tomorrow in the rain. What a nice surprise.

Then we made more light inside and called upon the Root of Jesse before we did some major work on our Christmas cards.

What the Keeper Did with 24 Hours!

You might wonder why this is interesting. Well, it is way more interesting than what I did for 24 hours--eat, sleep, push my catnip mouse around waiting for her to come home. 

The keeper had to talk at a church for three Masses, so she left at 4 and I didn't see her til much later.

She ran into old friends at each of the three Masses last eve and this morning. I asked her how it went. She said it was fine but the 8:30 Mass she wasn't awake yet and the bright sun shone directly in her face. 

Assumption Church 

After Mass last eve she met her good friends at the Cathedral for an Opus 7 concert which she told me was exquisite and which she didn't want to end. 

Then, today she no sooner got home from talking and went for a long walk to see the lake and mountain which were also exquisite. She gathered fallen evergreen boughs and sticks for decorations back here. She said it was spooky because no one was out anywhere. The Seahawks were playing.

Then Christmas tree needed trimming while  Christmas chant played. I remember when I thought that was fun, but I am bored by it now, and slept through it. I am too old to chase ornaments which I have pulled off of the tree. 

Mountain, Lake

Then it was time to dress up for Joseph and Richard's family Holiday Party. She fed me before donning the black velvet. But she says it's fun to dress up for this party. Those two do it up royally. Decor like House Beautiful, food like Gourmet, and great guests and family. The keeper met a young man who is a horse trainer and hopes to be in the Olympics some day---Hunter, Jumping events. She sighed and told him about her earlier dreams.

The Grand Entrance

Suzy and Steve

Joseph with someone who looked like she had a long but good Gaudete day.

Gaudete!

We have now begun the Third Week of Advent. The key theme here is Rejoice. I think we have a lot to rejoice about here. I finally got the keeper take the cat food I don't like back and get the stuff I do like. The sun is out. Jesus came to clean our gutters and trim the wisteria before it covers out house. I think she bought me a Christmas gift too. She finished the front lights too.

Little Tree

So we have a little tree now. She lugged in boxes of ornaments and lights and Christmas stuff.

We only put the lights and gold chains on tonight. But it looks nice so far.

Afternoon Before the Big Storm

Yesterday they predicted a big windstorm. It was pretty windy last night, but the skies put on quite a show in the afternoon. Each side of the parking lot offered a beautiful and quite different view. 

Waiting for the All Clear Sign

I ask her what she does all day. She says that most of the time she is either on the phone or at her computer or at a meeting. But yesterday they all took a break to evacuate the second floor because of a gas leak. It was fun to hang out and wait together, she said.

Advent evening of prayer at St. Joseph

Well, friends, I don't want to sound like a Whiney Siamese, but I had to wait till after 9 for dinner. And yes, it was the flavor I don't like. She was at yet another church at yet another retreat, which she says was a beautiful evening of storytelling, music, quiet, visual art and ritual. She had been asked to read part of a poem she wrote almost 30 years ago. Lots of people and old friends from past lives.

What she did on Monday II

She no sooner got the lights up, got dry, and left me again for the Cathedral. except it took 70 minutes to drive there and another fifteen to find parking. So she was very late. But not for the retreat after. While she was gone I upchucked on her bedroom rug. Could someone please tell her that I don't like the taste of the new cat food? You may see her before I do!

What We Did on Monday

Monday she stayed home to be with me, I thought. NOT!

She went to Costco and ran her cart through the store on 30 minutes, and said that 20 of that time was waiting to check out. She bought clothes for migrant kids, and more. It was sunny and like San Diego in the a.m. When she got back, she pulled out her light diagrams and began putting up Christmas lights all excited because she usually does this in the cold rain. Well, she did again, and came in sopping wet after throwing half of the lights up in front. It does look nice though. They don't get turned on till after Guadalupe Day on Friday.

Advent II Vespers

When the keeper arrived home we celebrated the arrival of the second week of Advent with our own Vespers I.  She did this after cleaning up the breakfast and lunch which I upchucked on the dining room floor earlier.  She thanked me for missing the carpet.  I aim to please. 

Mother of the Americas Celebration

She left this morning and spent most of the day at the Cathedral for the 20th annual celebration in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Madre de las Americas. One of the most exciting parts is the entrance dancing procession of the Dancers who have been walking from St. Mary's Church with drums and shells and copal incense and banners and feathers and masks.

This year  also in the entrance procession 21 young women carried in other images of Mary which are venerated in the Americas and Philippines.

Luna From the Driveway

She took this the other night when she went out for the mail. We are a moonstruck home, aren't we?

Moon Wrapped in Green

Tonight I pushed the keeper out to the side porch.  She needed to see this.

But she ignored me for a while. She is trying to write a reflection for a parish for the weekend.

I forgot what it's like to live with her when she is doing this. It's been quite a while.

But I wouldn't stop howling until she stormed out. But then she said, "Oh my!" 

She could have thanked me or given me credit for the photo. But I did get dinner after.

Advent Luna Bella

The moon rose over the lake in a very fetching way!

Cascades, Lake, Bird

The  day was as clear as it was cold, and after her time at St. James where the incense was lovely, by the way,she decided to go walking down to the lake.  She was so wrapped up, I barely recognized her. She returned a little rosier but said she saw the sun beginning to set as the moon continued to rise,  glistening mountains, woodsmoke and a blue blue lake. 

Advent Vespers

We spent part of the chilly afternoon assembling this year's Advent wreath. River stones, very tall candles, and paper white bulbs.  We lit our first candle with vespers tonight. It was already getting dark.

"May God dawn upon us with wonderful light!"

Power Outage at Santa's LFP shop

The keeper had noticed a long line of families waiting for the Santa visit as she headed up to Third Place Books.  Imagine the disappointment when the power went off, the sirens began to blare, and people were asked to evacuate the building.  The children  were not happy. Nor were the parents all ready for the photo shoot. The gym shut down for the rest of the day.  That's what the keeper was sad about!