Updates

My apologies for the sparsity of posts this week. I am working on blog related updates, and have not had time to publish.

Surreal Days in So Cal

I have not posted much the past few days. I am not sure what to say - it seems a bit surreal right now. There is my sister's friend for whom we are praying that has not made her decision to have an abortion or not. It is sad to see my sister lose a bit of innocence (yes, still innocent at 20), as she hears a friend say that she knows it is murder and she is thinking about it anyways. I myself at almost twice that age find that hard to fathom. But we pray and do what we can. I hope she does the right think in the end. My understanding is that October 29 is a crucial day. Please continue to pray for her. Contributing to the sense of gloom are the fires burning throughout So Cal. While the nearest fire is 20 miles away, there is no escaping the constant reminder of the devastation occurring nearby. Everything has an orange tinge to it when the sun is shining through the smoke. And the smell has been only of fire, and ashes fall even this far away. Please pray for those who have lost their homes or who are in danger. Pray too for the souls of the arsonists who set at least some of these fires. Arson, with the death and destruction it entails, is also a sin I find difficult to understand.

Excursion By The Bay

Click on picture for larger image The reason for the lack of posts is that we have been on vacation for the past week or so. Thanks, for the prayers well wishes, especially from Amber. It is nice to know that someone noticed - sometimes you wonder if people actually read what you write. We continued our California Mission pilgrimage with visits to 6 missions in the San Francisco Bay area - San Francisco Solano, San Francisco de Asisi (Mission Dolores), San Raphael, San Jose (which is not in the city of San Jose), Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. I hope to have pictures up soon, but am well behind on that front. I should get back in the posting groove again, but it is not easy. I did not miss remaining in constant contact with technology on my trip. The laptop was used just to store pictures once the memory cards were full. Email went unread, and the web went unexplored. It was refreshing. Kind of makes it tough to get back into the groove of things. Expect to see more here once I get things sorted out on this end.

Minestrone Soup

I started feeling a slight ear ache on Sunday night, but got knocked on my rear yesterday evening. I couldn't stop shivering. Because of the achy body and stuffed nose, I slept horribly last night. But my wife brought some minestrone soup from one of our favorite Italian restaurants for lunch. Nothing beats a nice bowl of minestrone when fighting a cold.

You ever get...

Do you ever get in the doldrums. I am not sure that is where I am, but it seems that way. Work kicked up a notch over the past few weeks. This has made me want to avoid other activity. Of course, we still have "special weekends," which means I have to keep going. It is not a fun place to be.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!!

Don't forget to where your green!!!!! Have a wonderful St. Paddy's Day!!! "Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it." -Pope John Paul II

Getting Focused

Click on picture for larger image Well just compare this picture to the one for yesterday's post and you can see I have spent some time straightening up. It sure is nice to start with a cleared desk - if only life were as simple as my desk. Regardless, I am grateful for the chance to get a bit organized. On a positive note, I had been looking for a song that we used to sing when I was in the minor seminary. For more than 20 years I wanted to get the music for that song. Well, I finally connected with a few former schoolmates online! It looks like I'll get the song, and we may get together to play and sing some. Those were good days. Unfortunately, Cardinal Mahoney closed the minor seminary - there was earthquake damage to another high school after the Northridge earthquake, and he turned the facilities over to them. I think that the solution was a bit extreme, but who am I to say. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go there. I blogged about potential parish issues yesterday. The good thing is that we are coming from a good place - we are not very emotional about this and are trusting God as we seek guidance. We have some praying and discerning to do, but I feel much better than I did six months ago when faced with the same decision. I'll let you know when we come to some sort of resolution, but it may be a month or two. As always, I appreciate your prayers.

Cursillo Weekend

I will be off-line for a few days as I have been invited on a Crusillo weekend. Prayers for this weekend would be appreciated. I don't know a lot about Crusillo, but I guess I'll find out shortly. I'll check back in on Monday.

Updating Blog Look & Feel

Hi Folks! I am updating the look and feel of the blog. Please excuse any dust. Let me know what you think.

Leaving on a jet plane

Click on picture for larger image Today I will be heading to ATL for a bit of business. This should be a quick trip, and I should have a post or two from when I get stuck in the hotel. Prayers for safe travel are always appreciated.

Humility, Worry, and Growth

It has been hectic since the baptism. I have had to finish a couple of projects, I had a school board meeting for our Catholic school, and we had family visiting from Indiana. Not much time to put in a blog. Everyone is doing well, I continue to do alright with Gracie. I have it rigged pretty good. She is getting more and more delightful as well. She has started smiling and we hear the beginnings of laughs. On a personal note, I had a humbling experience last week. I was confronted with an error I had made. I had to own it - and that was not pleasant. I have been working on humility for years, and it is still not easy. This error was work related to work. Now, those who know me, know that I worry. This combined with a couple of discontinued projects got me started. This time was a little different though - I was not as worried as I would have been even a year ago. As I look at my life, there has never been a time when God did not provide. It makes my worry seem so foolish. I am grateful that I am growing here, and pray for even more growth. Back soon.

Hoping For An Upturn

Click on picture to view larger image. Well, I am expecting, hoping, and praying that 2007 is ready for a personal upswing. So far it looks like I am losing a client as they eliminate the team I have been working with, another of my clients is eliminating a sizable project, my brother has gotten into some trouble, my Mom has had some health troubles, a former boss died at 49, and work demands have been pressing. Not the easy start I had expected. Still, the kids are healthy. Our marriage is strong. The weather's been glorious. We have been able to go to mass nearly every day. And I continue to experience countless blessings of every sort. Lord, give me the wisdom see all the blessings in my life. Give me the fortitude to carry the few crosses I have. Give me a loving heart that I might love you and my neighbor better. Amen. Oh, yeah - I added some pictures to my project 365 photo journal. You can check them out by clicking here. The picture above was the picture for yesterday.

Happy New Year

It has been some time since I posted. I hope you all had a wonderful New Year. We traveled to Sacramento to see good friends. BTW, what other state can say that their capital is named for the blessed sacrament - I tell you, it sure is nice to be in California. Kudos to the Trojans for showing Michigan that they really didn't deserve a second shot at the title. I think both of those teams (Michigan and USC) are going to be tops next year. Will there be a rematch in a bowl? It would be nice. It was hard to watch the Notre Dame contest with LSU. I thought Notre Dame was better than that. They seemed to be flat after their time off. Hopefully Charlie Weis will get these guys in shape. We are good here. Look for more posts soon.

Just Checking In

I hope all are doing well as Christmas approaches. Not much to blog on here. We are busy preparing. The kids are home from school. The weather has turned to a chilly 65 degrees (though the lows are in the 40's). Everyone is healthy, the baby is happy. Work is busy still. I had hoped for it to have lightened up by now, but it is what it is. I should have a chance for a post or two before the holiday. I hope you are all enjoying this advent.

Leaving on a jet plane

Tomorrow AM I have to take a flight to ATL. This is a good and bad thing. As any who know me can attest, I am not the biggest fan of Atlanta. Now, that isn’t really fair. I guess I just would rather live in Southern California. Atlanta is a fine place, I just don’t want to live there. I must admit that the south has some of the best “bad for you” food. I love the barbecue and you have not had breakfast until you have had a Southern breakfast. But the culture is a shock – I do have stories, but not for sharing here. The one thing I can say about Atlanta is that some of my favorite people in the world live there. Getting to see them, even briefly, is worth the effort. The down side is that it blows routine, disrupts work (i.e., it makes the following couple weeks difficult catching up), and I miss my family. But in the end, renewing the connections with these people is worth it. Phone, email, blogs, etc. – these are all good. But nothing replaces seeing the person, sharing a hug and renewing that friendship in person.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Click on picture to see a larger image. Work has been wild crazy. I have not dropped off the map, but I feel like I am in a different world. Work has been intense, and I spent Labor Day weekend laboring. I am still not finished with my current projects (maybe Sep 25th-ish), but I think I can get my weekends back (I lost the past few). I do owe a response to the well articulated comment from Jerry Grasso, one of my friends in ATL. It will come Jerry. In the mean time I wanted to put in a post letting people know I am still alive. In fact, I did take a few hours to celebrate my 38th birthday with my family on Sunday. I got what I wanted as well (and hadn't expected). My mom went to the Charismatic Convention in Anaheim - she got me a beautiful image of the Agony in the Garden, a picture of the Pope, and a couple of John Michael Talbot CDs. My sisters, brother, and dad went in together to get me the Liturgy of the Hours and a daily missal. The kids got me cologne (which I was running out of). We also took a quick drive to the beach today to stick our toes in the water,take some pictures and having dinner at an Irish pub (one of the pictures will be up this week). Beyond that, it has been all work. I am thinking of those of you who have commented - and keeping you in my prayers, and ask the same. This has been the most intense patch I have had in a couple years. I know I'll make it through, but it has been rough. I hope to have another post in a couple days.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work the parish festival I go

Please pray that our parish festival is a success this weekend. Successful in building community and in providing the parish with the needed resources. Look for a few photos - but I may not post tomorrow with all of the excitement.