Checking in as we begin Advent...

Just checking in as much of my computery-life has been on hold lately...

I wish you and your famiily a blessed Advent season as we await Christmas. May you find joy in all the festivities around us, the traffic and Christmas lights.. knowing that it is all done in His Glory! You all are in my thoughts and prayers and I feel very thankful to have such friends as you.

This time of year I always feel drawn away from the computer.. one year I fasted from the computer completley as if it were Lent. There is something about these 'purple seasons' that do that to me!

May God bless you and draw you closer as you draw family and friends closer as well.

With love,
Cindy

Coffee Lovers Rejoice!

Brain Food
There's good news for those of us who've given up our beloved cups of Joe in the interest of good health. Coffee has been undergone some rigorous testing in the past ten years, and according to studies from the Harvard University School of Public Health and The Nestle Research company, Coffee packs more of an antioxidant punch than either green tea or red wine. Two or three times more, in fact.

It's not only a heavyweight when it comes to battling free radicals. Coffee appears to be sort of a "miracle food" that has been shown to prevent type II, or adult onset Diabetes. It also reduces the risk of colon cancer, prevents Parkinson's disease, boosts male fertility, cuts the risk of liver cirrhosis by 80%, helps manage asthma (it can even help control an attack when medication is unavailable), prevents cavities, and helps offset damage from smoking and drinking too much.

Scientists have suspected for quite some time that coffee helps protect against Cancer, and German scientists recently discovered why. Coffee contains an exclusive and powerful antioxidant called methylpyridinium. Methypyridinium boosts blood enzymes that fight colon cancer and is formed in the roasting process from a chemical found naturally in the bean.

The stronger the coffee, the higher the level of methylpyridinium. Darker roasts contain two or three times more than medium roasts.


Decaf does not offer the same benefits, and the Robusta beans offer 2-3 times more antioxidants than Arabica, but the difference is evened out in the roasting process. (Just FYI, adding milk and/or sugar does not alter the antioxidant levels).

Besides protecting against disease, the caffeine in coffee has been shown to boost athletic performance. In a study published by Current Sports Medicine Reports, caffeine was shown to improve performance and endurance during prolonged exhaustive exercise, and boost short-term, high-intensity athletic performance, as well as enhancing concentration, reducing fatigue, and amping alertness.

More than six independent studies have confirmed that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are 60 to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's, and three of those studies show that the more they drink, the lower the risk.

Patients who suffer from "dry mouth" during treatment for depression with tricyclic antidepressants, are relieving their symptoms with cappuccino. Apparently, cappuccino increases the amount of saliva, and improves a patient's ability to talk for up to 2 hours.

So go ahead, have another cup of coffee.

Source - Coffeescience.org

By Liza Hall - Group Fitness Director, Thousand Oaks

Miss Bailey this weekend

My dogsitting dance card is filling up for the holidays. It always seems to work out just right with our clients. We now have 7 clients. Some are regulars, some just need us occasionally.

Before the holidays I send a message out and ask when they will need me. I have a back up sitter that has occasionally helped out. But we always seem to be able to work our family plans with our clients' plans. :)

This weekend I got to visit my sweet white doggie girl, Bailey. Her sidekick Sophie the Great Dane passed away a few months ago and we still miss her.

But, now that it is just Bailey I can take her on walks. (Owners were afraid both big dogs would be too much to handle as they were not well leash trained)

So, Bailey and I (and the boys sometimes) have had some very nice walks this weekend.



Who couldn't love this face?

A Parent's Secret Dream?

Last night my husband and went to a blues club. We just discovered there is one about 7 minutes from our house!

In college and early married life we loved blues clubs. My dh is a mini-conseuire and knows all the old Chicgo and Delta bluesmen.

Our first date in 1981 was to see Muddy Waters in Austin.

So, we were leaving and the boys started asking about cleaning supplies. They had put off their housecleaning so were about to start.

A parent's dream? Heading out for a night on the town while you kids are home cleaning the house! lol

End of story: they put it off and didn't do it after all. And the music was so good I called them on my cell and held it up so they could hear. (no one under 21 allowed-) but it WAS fun!

I joked with dh that I would have our next Homeschool Mom's Night Out there....lol
pretty lowdown, lots of beer, cigarette smoke, and bar flies! But we had a great time.

Here's the band we saw- interesting bio- the lead is a doctor and does this for stress relief... :)Matt Leddy Band

Woo Hoo! I ran 3 miles today!

(<------not me...lol )

I am sooooo excited!
I used to run (well if an 11min mile is called running) all the time from college until I was about 43. Cathy, my buddy in college (they one whose son just got married, see previous post) got me started. We ran every day without fail. I pretty much kept it up and had a baby jogger (back when they were a novelty) and loved running in the suburbs of San Fransciso. Great weather and lots of hills. :)

In Ohio I found another running partner, (another Kathy!) and we were up every morning at 5:45, running. The other moms thought we were crazy and we were, but we had some great talks and great runs. We ran without fail unless the temp was below 10 F or if there was ice.

Then I moved to Houston. Muggy, Hot. Bad air quality. Then I kept putting on weight. When I did run, my shoulders and neck hurt so bad. The stress. I quit. I miss it a lot.

When you run, you are outside- every run is different. And you can 'zone'. That is that kind of runner's high you get after you are in decent shape and you can daydream and your legs seem to move by themselves. I miss that.

Well, today I went to our big park with a trail to do a walk/run. It was beautiful out. I had the Ipod playlist Stephen made for me-- awesome motivating songs! I ran 3 miles.. (with just a few short walk breaks)-- and it felt like old times!

Now, I am just hoping I don't wake up tommorrow with a crunched neck. It may happen.

But I realized as I was on my 3rd lap today that maybe perhaps the 20 pounds I dropped since the summer may have something to do with the successful run? That like runnning carrying 2 gallon water jugs. Wow. And I could still stand to lose 10-15 more pounds, just to get back to where I was in Ohio.

My 'gremlin' voice tells me I never should have gotton so heavy. But that is life. Stress, snacking, comfort eating, no workout plan.. it happens easily. But,my body is feeling so much better and I am even more encouraged to keep going.

3 miles! Whoo Hooo!!!
(O.K. Karen, if you are reading this, find me a 5K in the winter/spring before it gets hot! I'm ready to rumble!)

Beautiful Fontinini Nativity Sets

On our lovely UC list we are having a discussion about favorite wedding gifts to give. An old college buddy of mine's first son was recently married. I don't know him well (but have a picture of him bouncing on my knee when he was 6 months old...)-- but he knows his mom and I are old buds. So I wanted to give him something special. They also have a new baby, so I want to support them and also have a thoughtful gift.

Our UC discussion turned to religious gifts- really the best, most eternal and beautiful! My friend and son are Christian though not Catholic, and what speaks better to us all than a creche? Plus the 'new beginning' of a baby.. and it is Advent coming, too!

Anyway, it got me thinking about the creche that Stephen and Bryan's Godparents gave him on his first Christmas. Just a simple stable and holy family, but over the years we have added to it.

Our family tradition is to open one gift each Christmas Eve after Mass. It worked itself out that the gift the boys opened was always a figure addition to the nativity. After many years we had all the main people, so they would get cows, a dog family, chickens... and we even started working on the rest of the town of Bethlehem! If you want you can get into Roman soilders, buildings, wow, you could fill up your house!

Instead last year I got a second stable and we are filling that one out, so each son can take a nativity with them to their families one day.

But, I wanted to share the Fontnini site with you all. They are wonderful quality, vinyl that looks like plaster and child friendly! The boys have played and played with them over the years.

Also some years I would have the wise men at one end of the house, slowly making their way across the rugged carpet to eventually get to the stable by Epiphany. And of course the Christ child would be hidden in a drawer until Christmas morning. One Christmas about five years ago I hid him so well we could never find him, so I had to order another.. lolFor more info on Fontinini click here- or do a google search, there are many dealers...

They are not cheap, but an investment and the quality is worth the price. But adding a piece or two each year is not horribly expensive.

All Saints Mass

I was really tired last night and didn't much feel like going to Mass. My dh had been working hard all day in the office and about 6pm I poked my head in and asked if he was going to Mass tonight.

"No," he said, a drained look on his face as he removed his phone earpiece. He thought it was the daily Mass the boys and I usually go to once a week. But, I reminded him it was All Souls Day, a holy day of obligation.

"Yes." he said, not without a bit of a sigh.

So we went. The church was just beautiful. I love going to Mass after dark. It reminded me of the Easter Vigil and Christmas Masses. The lights were golden and low. As we walked through the vestabule, there were about a dozen children dressed as saints. Father was herding them and giving them last minute instructions on how to stand to best be seen.

I love the litany. St. Anne, pray for us. St. Cosmo, pray for us. St. Francis, pray for us.

It seemed like a hundred names, but I could have listened to a thousand more.

I also noticed the music. I am so glad our liturgist has gone back to a more traditional Holy Holy Holy. And all the music seemed to connect us and what is more, everyone was singing! Well not everyone (my guys are all three allergic to that), but most people were. I felt my voice was joined with everyone there and the saints above.

And Father N did what he does best. During his homily he brought up the 'little saints' and had them stand with him in front of the alter. He is a reuglar Art Linkletter, interviewing them about the saint they were representing and getting some funny answers. I also was happy to see some of the kids had no clue and were not like some perfect Catholic homeschooling children (BG) who could give a report on their saint.

"What country are you from, St. Terese?" he asked a little girl holding a rose.
---"Um. I dunno." Fr. N winked and said in a stage whisper
"FRANCE"
---"France!" St. Terese said.

Jacob didn't know if he was Old or New Testament, either, but he knew he brought the walls of Jericho down.

Going down the line,
"Who are you?"
--"St. Anne, the Virgin's mother."

"And who are you?"
---"Mary."

Turing back to the previous child-
"Oh, you brought your daughter with you!"

:)

Lots of fun. And as Father said, most people think of saints like these... kids in their bathrobes.. no, actaully as sorta super humans. But.. you know this is coming...
he said we are ALL called to be saints.

Yup. That means I still have to work on getting rid of my bad and selfish habits. Sigh.

But, yes, I am so glad I went to Mass. So glad I was 'obligated'. The world made sense. It explained Halloween to me once again. It reminded me of the dear departed who are with us but just beyond. We are not alone. We are all one Church. Oh, I love this Church! And how the liturgy and 'have tos' bring us back, over and over again.

Editor Flub?- email is not all its cracked up to be..

Oh, darn.

Our neighborhood newsletters were delivered to our doorstep last night and I have a message on my answering machine. The article our Security Director submitted is not in the newsletter.

I never got it. Darn. I sent him an email but should have called him. He is a retired officer and the sweetest man. I should have known not to rely on email.

I have often thought about what email must be like to those over a certain age. My mil wanted to learn the computer so bad when it first became popular. She tried, but 'couldn't SEE' the screen. That was when she was in her 70's. Now she is 88 and still feels like she is missing something when the news and commercials always talk of WWW Dot ... etc. and she hears about email and her bridge friends talks of sending pictures on the internet.

In our neighbhorhood we have many older people some of which give me submissions for the newsletter each month. I can tell they would much prefer the phone or dropping off hard copy.

I have the original newsletter that were published going back to 1972. Back then they were hand-typed. And the typist got credit on the front page. We don't know how good we have it!

Well, I still feel bad I didn't get his article. Waiting until 8am so I can call him.

Our Daniel is a Cardnial

I say 'our' Daniel. The Galveston Houston Dioceese was lucky enough to have him become our bishop, then archbishop and now the Holy Father has named him a cardnial.
And... we just found out tonight he will be saying Mass at our parish on December 4th!

"It will be like Christmas," our pastor said, referring to seating, "So, come early!"

I have only seen Archbishop Dinardo once. He spoke at a fund-raising Knights of Columbus dinner. He has something special. Holiness, but also a spark, a charisma. Of course I wonder if he might be pope one day... but we all think things like that at times.

But during his talk, which took place just as he had become bishop in Houston, he spoke of all the challenges we have. Boy, does Houston have them. All the problems of a big city, homeless, immigration, laxity in the Chruch, etc.

I remember two things he said.

First, that priests, when they consecrate the host are not there to entertain.
"We aren't supposed to be Johnny Carsons." is actaully what he said.

and second, that all the problems- MASSIVE problems we face have one answer. Before we go around trying to piecemeal all the answers to all the problems, we need to focus on one thing: The Eucharist. I knew then he was The Man.

Also my husband told me tonight that Archbishop Dinardo has made a big impact on the prisoners at the prison ministy he volunteers at. He said that during one visit, Archbishop DiNardo sat on a stool and heard confessions out in the yard. The image was striking. It has helped to heal a lot of difficulties between some anti-Catholic Protestant factions within the ministry.

God is Good.

Pray for Daniel.. Our Daniel.. yours and mine.

P.S.- I see from the linked article he was born in Steubenville, Ohio.. figures! So much good comes from there! (Dean Martin for one.. lol)
Story here

Friendship

I have been thinking about friendship lately.

It can be friendship with other women, or within your family, your marriage and even with your children.

What I have to know is that the true friendships are those in which we are 'on our friend's side'. We want them to succeed. To grow. To be closer to God.

A litmus test is when a friend chooses something different than we might. Though that choice may not fit us, if it fits them, we cheer.

Another is when the friend has a success. We are not jealous. We don't compare and feel bad because we didn't get it, or didn't have the courage/talent/luck to achieve the same thing. We cheer for them, hug them, are truly happy for them.

And when a friend is this for us, we have a gift beyond others. We have trust. We know our friend is 'on our side' so when we go through dips and failures, they are there to listen, support, pick us up and we know gossip will never get started.

When we succeed, or our children or families do, we know they truly are happy for us, because our success is their success.

And the more we can trust, the more we can share, and the sweeter the friendship is.

I am so blessed to have people in my life like this. I have learned so much from them. And I am trying to be this to others. It is not always easy because sometimes I feel jealous, inferior or just unluckly. But I know when friends have me feeling better and find myself praying more, that I am very lucky.

Justice Clarence Thomas

Did you know Clarence Thomas is Catholic and studied to be a priest?
Did you know Clarence Thomas became an angry young black man and rioted in Harvard Square in 1970?
Did you know Clarence Thomas's grandfather's favorite phrase was:
"Old Man Can't is dead. I buried him."

Wonderful interview by three Hillsdale College students. Worth the read.. and passing on to your kids.
Click here

The Imprimis is also available for free- the magazine in which the interview was published.

Trick, Treat and Sweet

A summary of last night:

DING DONG!
bark bark bark bark bark bark bark

DING DONG!
bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark

DING DONG!
bark bark bark bark bark bark bark

...well, you get the idea.. ;)

We had a fair amount of trick or treaters last night- and I loved the costumes and smiles.
I began the evening by answering the door with a Jar Jar Binks mask on, but after scaring the neighbor's son (he ran crying to his mom at the curb!)-- I took that off.

I still feel bad about that!

It was fun to see the costumes, but the sweetest was when I got two Fairy Princesses about 8 years old at the door, complete with glitter and wands.

As they were turning away to leave, one craned her head to read the little plaque I have over the doorbell button, with the scripture pictured above.

"Come on!" her friend urged.

"Wait, I want to finish reading the Bible verse." she replied.
And did.

I just liked that. Sometimes you put something up like that and see it so much you forget it's there. Kind of offset some of the negatvies that come with Halloween...