Outside my window…it is raining. I don’t know what it is doing outside my window in NY, but here in SC it is raining and cool.  The windows are open here in my brother’s house and the cool air is coming in along with the sound of birds.

I am thinking…about death, a lot lately.  Maybe it is because my father just passed away.  I pray that I do so well when it is my time.

I am thankful for…my son who gave me the opportunity to be here for my father’s end.  I am thankful for my siblings for their love and faith that sustain not only themselves and their families but those around them as well.

From the kitchen…I have no clue and I really don’t care. I’m not here for the food.

I am wearing…jammies.

I am creating…memories of the time that I get to spend with my family. An unexpected gift that comes with the death of a loved one.

I am going…to the funeral home some time today to “officially” identify my dad before he is cremated.

I am reading…The Sayings of the Monks of the Desert

I am hoping…that my oldest brother is able to make it back to the states for dad’s funeral.

I am hearing…the sounds of Matt’s kids doing their chores, the birds chirping outside, and the washer doing its business.

Around the house…it is peaceful and quiet. Matt and Jeanette have this place running like a well oiled machine.

One of my favorite things…the sight of their dog, Jack, sprawled out on the floor taking his ease.

A few plans for the rest of the week…details of the death and interrment that have to be taken care of. The funeral mass is on Friday and then shortly after that I will have to make my way home to New York and my former life.

Here is a picture thought that I am shaing with you…

A beloved memory of Layn, Saturday morning before I dropped everything to fly south.

Saturday evening the world became less and yet benefitted more for the passing of my father, Theodore Pelicano.  Less because coming generations will not have the privilege of being in the presence of the man who raised a family with unshakable faith and a wealth of unconditional love.  More because those same generations can now call upon him in ways beyond their wildest imaginings.  He is in a seat of influence praying before the very throne of The Most High.  His praise and prayer are perfect as they were never perfect when he dwelt upon this earth.

His eight children drew from his life of experience, wealth of faith, and well of deep love that he had for their mother and them.  Now that he is gone from them he can sing the praises of the angels and saints before the throne of God and be an instrument in the showering of grace on his family members as never before in his earthly life.

Though we are all saddened by the loss of his physical presence in our world we can rejoice in his release from this mortal coil.  His earthly sufferings are ended, sufferings that he faced with courage, grace and even his own particular brand of humor.  His faith in God and his love for his wife and family guided his journey through his battle with cancer to his triumphant reception of the final sacraments and the Apostolic Blessing.

We all should live and die as well armed and girt for the battle against the powers of darkness and emerge triumphant on the other side.

MK is just as reluctant as her brothers to have her portrait taken but she was at least more cooperative.  These are my favorites from the 11 images that were taken.

It is always a chore to get any of my children to sit for their portrait.  This past week I took Matthew and MK to have their portraits taken so that I could have up-dated pics of them.  Here are the proofs of Matthew’s sitting.  He is very photogenic just not very cooperative.

Outside my window….the world wears her garments of drab browns and greens gone to sleep.  The brilliant colors of fall have all gone away and the pristine white of winter has yet to spread her blanket over my world.  I like to think of this time as the time in between.  In the Church calendar we are entering the season of Advent.  The earth is in advent as well.  Adventus, from the latin which means “coming.” For those of you who don’t believe perhaps the coming is winter and snows but for those of us who believe it is the coming of Christ that we await. How appropriate that the earth waits as well.

I am thinking….about changes.  Along with waiting for the coming of Christ in Christmas there is a palpable feeling of imminence in the atmosphere.  Changes are coming in more than the seasons. I sense that there are major changes coming in the fabric of life around here.  Time will tell and perhaps prayers will be answered in discernable ways.

I am thankful for…Melissa having made the coffee this morning.  I need the jolt today!!!!  Seriously, I am thankful for yesterday and the chance to spend the whole day in front of my Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  I am thankful for the opportunity to immerse myself in the beauty of vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament last night.  What an appropriate way to spend the Feast of Christ the King.

From the kitchen…I haven’t a clue but I am sure that will change with time.  Something truly delicious and nutritious will come forth at the appointed time and all will be wowed by my culinary talents once again.

I am wearing….still in jammies but I plan on wearing a navy A-line skirt with a black sweater.  (I call it my bruise look)

I am creating….a whole lot of Christmas cheer in my laboratory sewing room. 

I am going…to make a trip to the grocery so that we can be well provisioned for Thanksgiving and beyond!  There isn’t a scrap of flour in this house which is second only to there being no toilet paper.  These two happenings are, in the immortal words of our treasure Kay, “911 happenings!”

I am reading…still working on Robert Barron’s Catholicism  This is not a read this is a feast.

I am hoping…to be able to stretch the money from the sale of the Blazer to infinity and beyond!

I am hearing…the sweet tones of Chris Botti’s horn playing My One and Only Love on the CD player, Melissa starting the laundry with a lot of help from Layn, the fan on the furnace running in the basement, and the sighing of the wind in the junipers outside my window.

Around the house…the place looks lived in, loved in and generally like a home.  I like it!!!

One of my favorite things…hearing Layn calling “mama, mama.” as he runs up to Melissa with his latest discovery.

A few plans for the rest of the week….intense thanks giving as opposed to the daily giving of thanks that goes on around here.  Today I will shop.  Tomorrow I will do laundry and clean this house.  Wednesday will be a day for baking and cooking and generally spent in culinary preparation.  Thursday we go to Mass and celebrate the mystery of supreme thanksgiving and then come home and give our own profound and personal thanks for the countless and undeserved blessings that God has showered on this family in the past year.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you…

She gets lovelier with every passing day.

There comes a time in every vehicle’s life when its life comes to an end. In our world that end is either a violent one (deer meets red minivan) or a quiet passing into the next world as is the case of the Chevy Blazer.

One morning my husband woke up to go to work but unfortunately the Blazer didn’t.  In spite of Ian’s best efforts it couldn’t be revived.

Fortunately it had a donor card in the glove box all filled out and signed so we donated the battery to the backhoe (the one that pushed it onto the trailer).  The gas tank will be stored in the shop for future donation and the tires will fit Jason’s Jeep.

After she underwent the indignity of being scavenged she was hauled off to the scrap yard to bring a pretty price (I hope). 

Our friend’s baby was born late yesterday afternoon. Case John is healthy and mom is over the moon with happiness.

Setting the stage and marching in with great ceremony.

Duly proud graduates in formation.

Receiving a medal of commendation for being highest in the medical portion of the training.

Receiving the prized haberdashery.

Congratulations from the man who showed him the way.

a moment to be captured, saved and savored.

My son, the newly minted green beret and my father, the man who shaped and tended my heart until he handed it over to my husband.  I love you both and am so very proud of you.

Outside my window…it is cloudy but relatively warm.  We spent the last week in the southland where temps were in the upper 60′s to mid 70′s.  While we were gone my daughter gleefully announced that we had gotten a couple of inches of snow.  I was very happy to miss that event!  Today it is 56 out with a light breeze blowing; a good day to catch up on laundry, paperwork, and settle back into the home routine.

I am thinking…of all the people who have never had the privilege of experiencing a truly moving military ceremony.  The graduation that we attended last Wed. was not only patriotic but was full of tradition and significance.  I am afraid that there is a large portion of our population who are impoverished because they either scorn tradition, have no connection to it, or worst of all, have no sense of the importance of passing traditions on to the next generation.

I am thankful for…the family that my father struggled and strove to build.  Tradition and faith are the bywords in our family.  Not only did I and all of siblings bring with us traditions from growing up but we have all built new ones in our own homes and have striven to pass those down to the next generation.  I have spent time in the homes of several of my siblings and the overriding feeling in all their homes is one of being home; home in the place that I grew up and in the family that I know and love.  There has never been a sense of strangeness.

From the kitchen…I was thinking about putting on a pot of beef stew and coaxing Melissa into making a batch of her delicious biscuits.

I am wearing…jeans and a brown tee

I am creating…another group to carry the torch of family into the years to come and the continuing battle for salvation.

I am going…nowhere today.  I would like to stay home today.

I am reading….Robert Barron’s Catholicism.  The book is one that I highly recommend to both Catholics who wish to better understand their church and to non-Catholics to give them a true and accurate idea of what Catholics believe and where we come from.  This is one of those books I classify as one to be savored not just read.

I am hoping because hope is the cornerstone of my faith after faith and charity.

I am hearing…the 82nd Airborne Chorus singing Blue Moon on the CD player. 

Around the house…the place was cleaned to a fair thee well while I was gone.  It fairly squeeks! Laundry is going, Layn is napping, Ian, Doug, and MK are at work and Matthew is outside cleaning out my car.  Melissa is in the other room doing Melissa stuff.  When I get done here I have some paperwork to finish up and then I intend to finish the quilt that is on the machine and then put another one on.

One of my favorite things…laughter! Full out, unrestrained, side-splitting belly laughter.  The kind of laughter that is unselfconscious.  I got a satisfying earful on Friday night and it was so refreshing.

A few plans for the rest of the week…back into the normal routine. 

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you….

Heart rending, heart stopping rows of American flags in front of the traveling wall.  Each flag topped with a tag that bears the name of a loved on who has given all and gone to his reward.  Being there was an experience that defies description.  Looking at the photo gives me the same shivers.