What a Neat Town!

I do love Havre de Grace.

It is such a sweet little place and there is so much fun stuff happening all the time. 

Tonight Lisa Tellup invited Cora and I to go for a walk, as we often do. She likes to get Chipper out and so we decided to walk in town because there was something happening at the Lighthouse. 

Well, it was quite the party! The Waterfront Festival!

As it got dark, the Harvest Moon rose and it was just perfect outside. Just a nice breeze and a slight nip in the fresh air. 

We sat at the marina and watched the boat parade go by. They really outdid themselves!

Back at School, Fall is coming, and Sticks are Good

 That's what's happening around here!

It's still hot though....

Paul is back at school, and so is Madi of course! They are getting settled in and figuring out classes this week. 

Leaves are showing up in the backyard...

And Cora loves a good stick to chew on! 

August is Almost Gone....

 

I can't believe how fast we have come to the end of this Summer! It's crazy!

I haven't had a lot of ministry work to do, but every day is still full. There is a lot going on with Spiritual Direction, and we are gearing up for a lot of activity in the coming year. 

We have had a successful foray into First Fridays this Summer and now we know how it goes and what works best. In August I went down with Tim and a couple of other people and we set up the tent on a beautiful evening! I took a big bin full of books to give away, and some materials for making bookmarks. I also took a big bowl full of candy. That always goes over well. We met lots of people and all the books were given away! We have another one this week, and we are going to change it up a bit, but not too much!

Andrew had a birthday and Laura treated him, along with Calvin, to a Metalachi concert. Interesting genre of music. I got him a tshirt as part of his gift! There is also a new member in the Cooke family. Meet Chester! He is a Great Dane rescue. They have him on a trial basis for now. Max and Miles are now altar-serving at the Church! I love this! Gee, could they be twins? 

Paul and his friend TJ got out on the river and the Bay a couple of times this month which was really nice for him! He has been working really hard and saving as much as possible before heading back to school. 

It's still really hot out but we had a couple of nicer days and I got out and made a fire to sit by. I just love that. I will do this a lot more often when it's cooler. It brings back a lot of memories too. I took some pictures of the back yard. It sure is nice in the summer. 

Cora and I have gotten out for some walks. That has been nice too, but we have to go in the evening because it's too hot during the day. I am looking forward to the cooler air of Fall, but that's always kind of bitter-sweet, because I know what's coming....brrrr. 

Time in Washington

 It was a very nice week in Port Angeles! The weather was gorgeous, which was such a blessing!

I got to Port Angeles on Thursday afternoon and Dad dropped me at Julie's house. Amanda was there and Julie and I jumped into her car to go into town to pick up little Tysen, Amanda's 3 year old son. He was getting out of school. Isaac was home and we took him for a walk later in the day. He does love the trees!

We visited until dinner. It was so nice to catch up! Julie and Pat's friend, Stella, was also arriving that evening. She is a really sweet person and just wanted to help out as much as possible. 

Josh and Keira's wedding was so beautiful! The mountains provided a gorgeous backdrop to the event. The venue is so perfect. Everyone had a blast at the reception! 

On Monday I was blessed to be able to be with the Davis family for Pat's memorial service. Wow. What a gift. Julie planned a beautiful celebration to remember Pat. Her family and friends arrived over the course of several days. So many people came from so far to remember a special man and to support Julie and the girls. It was wonderful to be able to hear stories, listen to family songs, and even raise a shot of Japanese whiskey to Pat, on the back deck.

The day was not without it's challenges, four people testing positive for covid in the household, and an overflowing toilet, but Julie handled it all with her usual grace. 

There was time to visit and think about what is coming next too. Amanda has moved back to North Dakota, and Julie went down to California to spend a couple of weeks with Sarah and her girls. 

I am home now and getting back into the swing of things! Have to get ready for First Fridays and whatever God wants to do in our little world.

 Once again, it has been way too long! I even made notes to myself on my calendar! Oh well, I'll catch us up. 

We received very sad news that our dear friend, and Brendan's godfather, Mike Pergola, passed away last Friday. He is such a good man. A wonderful husband and father. Here is a link to his obituary:

https://www.honakerforestlawn.com/obituary/michael-pergola?fbclid=IwAR0VKKlp8m16aSfcpveZj-xn5Nw3uoglnUTx0TN8Obku2L5pu2lVbLsbHeQ

So I have been hard at work cleaning out storage and trying to pare down the stuff that we have. I am finding things that I will never need again, surely, and someone else can be using them. It's quite a process. None of the stuff is anything that any of the kids or grandkids would want. I am keeping that stuff. I have several bins of memorabilia for the boys, and whether or not they ever want it, it do look through it when I am working on something and I enjoy that. 

Cora has been visiting with Comet and Luna for the past couple of days and it has been fun for her. She has so much energy! 

We had lunch with Fr Henry last weekend. That was really wonderful! So nice to catch up! 

I have been packing away at my reading. I have several themes going right now, but I think they are both important in my journey to Spiritual Director. I have been reading so many really good books on why things are the way they are in our world right now, and how we got here. I know that this will be something that I will need as I walk with people. I am also doing my reading for Spiritual Direction, and I was very gratified to see that one of the texts for next year is "Fulfillment of all Desire" by Ralph Martin. I love this book! It has been so good for my own walk.

The big news for this week is that I am writing this from a hotel room in Seattle, while I wait for my dad to arrive to take me to Port Angeles for a week. I am here to attend Josh and Keira's wedding and the memorial for Pat Davis. I am really glad that I can be here for both of these things, and to spend time with Julie. I really didn't have much the last time we were out here. This time I will be staying up there most of the time. It will be so good to be with her. She is such an inspiration. She has lost her best friend and really all of the things that they had planned for this season in life, and yet she turns to God and she looks for what He has planned. What a gift our Faith is. 

I will try to do better in posting more often....really.

Lighten Up!

Another picture from school. Pope John Paul gave us so many beautiful writings on the beauty and dignity of women, and these are some of the most beautiful women! Thank you Papa JPII!

 For the past two days it has been wet in the morning. Rain, and more rain, but then not bad for the rest of the day. Yesterday was gloomy in the morning and pouring, but it did clear up and I was able to get Cora out for a walk.

I have been going through the storage for the past couple of days. I have been trying to lighten the load around here a bit. I got rid of a lot of blankets and just extra stuff that we don't need any more. I took a big load to Goodwill yesterday and then will do another tomorrow I think. I have to ask the kids about some of the stuff. There are some things in bins, and some toys that they may want to hang onto. If not I will donate them. I think they mostly have the things that they want to save. I have a few boxes of Brendan's stuff and Paul has a roomful, but he's going to be here for a bit. 

I took a day today to fast from things that distract me. I got a lot of really good reading done! I also caught up in email and made a couple of appointments. I invited our friends over for dinner tomorrow night, so I have to get out and buy some salmon and a few other things tomorrow. Should be a lot of fun! Paul will be here and I think that we will play some cards if they are interested. 

I have been doing some really heavy reading lately, but it is helping me to understand some of the things that have been weighing on me. I think it will be a good fit for Spiritual Direction as well. 

Talked to Dad and he is getting more and more excited about a move to Tennessee. I think he is going to be ready quite a while before we are though. He is traveling pretty light these days. He may go down in the Fall and find a place to rent and feel the place out. If he likes the area he may buy a place. It's pretty affordable there, compared to where he is! 

Tim bought us dinner tonight. I had a really good salad and he had meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Paul had a Philly cheesesteak, his favorite from Pat's. 

I think that I will be hitting the sack early tonight! I am so tired! 

Monday, Not Monday

 

Almost Heaven, West Virginia....

 Well, here we are on the 5th of July. It's a really nice morning but it sounds like it may not be a very nice afternoon. Thunderstorms are forecast.

Yesterday was pretty quiet, for the 4th of July. I was remembering how we used to go down to the parade and then we would walk down to the waterfront for the fireworks. So many fun memories. We haven't been to the parade in a while, because it's always so hot and finding parking is always tricky. 

Brendan was here and we had grilled chicken for dinner. He and Paul had been out the night before and Brendan wanted to sleep over so that he could do laundry and hang out. It was nice. 

Kevin Hoppel came over in the morning after Mass, because he is going to be a FOCUS missionary and he needs funds for that work. We enjoyed hearing about his work. Tim and I went over to the Hoppels later, for lunch. It was a very nice visit. Chris' parents, and Danielle came over too. 

After dinner Paul had to go to work, and as he was driving he realized that there was an issue with one of the hoses in his engine. I went and picked him up and he left the car at the stadium overnight. He and Tim are going to fix it today and bring it home. It's what you get with an older car. It should be an easy fix and we pray that it's the last thing for a while. 

I drove Paul to work at the Y after I went to pray the Rosary at St Patrick's. Since I couldn't go to Mass there I went to St Francis de Sales in Abingdon at 9:00. It was very nice. I realized while I was there that I have been to mass at five different churches in the last five days, and all for different reasons! I went to the Christ the King chapel at Franciscan on Friday for our usual Mass at the school, then on Saturday we had our closing Mass in our little Adoration chapel in the J Serra dorm. That was sweet. Then on Sunday we had to go all the way to Delaware and attend a Spanish Mass because we missed in the morning and due to the parade all the Masses after the 10:30 at St Patrick's were canceled. Then yesterday we went to St Patrick's and today it was St Francis. Interesting. 

Today I have to get a lot done in a short time. 

I have to read some of the materials that I need to study as I prepare to lead the Spiritual Exercises. I am also determined to go back into the Theology of the Body in a deeper way. I am hoping to attend another course in November. "Theology of the Body and the Interior Life". I will only be three classes and a LOT of writing away from certification! I also have to work on the family project. Getting more of grandma Maggie's logs typed into the blog. 

So getting to it! I will hopefully have a lot to report!