I HOPE YOU LIKE*

*the new background for Lent. It depicts Jesus' temptation in the desert.

Bridget wanted Outback for her birthday dinner, so the family gathered there yesterday evening. Not in attendance were H1/DIL1 who were back in Houston, and KenEllie who were returning from visiting Ellie's brother's family. All were missed!

Dinner was delicious, as usual. Afterward we went back to MD/DLG's house for cake and ice cream, and BB opened her gifts. She seemed especially pleased by her new Girl Scout camping set, and her book about fairies.

I'd like to ask for prayers for my sister, S-2, who is going through some trying health issues at the moment. Please add her to your prayer lists! Many thanks!!

For those of you who are having trouble sleeping, a quick update on the progress of my studies. I'm struggling with St. Augustine's De Trinitate (The Trinity) which is about, you guessed it, the Trinity. Here's a sample: "This is good and that is good. Take away this and that and see good itself if you can. In this way you will see God, not good with some other good, but the good of every good." The whole book is like that!! Aarrrgggghhhhh!! But, it's all good! Tomorrow we get to discuss it in class. Hopefully I'll come away with a better understanding. We shall see.

And now for something completely different!! (Everyone who went to sleep during the last paragraph can wake up now).

What's for Dinner on Friday?

Today, we had planned to have crawfish and corn soup with a salad at one of my personal favorite restaurants, New Orleans Food and Spirits, or as we like to call it, NOFS. What we actually had was Teryaki grilled salmon (Linda) and "Swamp Pasta" which is basically shrimp in a light alfredo sauce over angel hair pasta (me). To that we did add a cup of crawfish corn soup for each of us. Yummmmy!! Our plans for supper are fried catfish at our parish Knights of Columbus council's Lenten fish fry.

It's all so good it hardly seems like a sacrifice at all. Some say the seafood is SO good in New Orleans that we Catholics should HAVE to eat meat on Fridays during Lent. For some that would be the true sacrifice!!

Well, back to St. Augustine. Take care and God bless!!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BB

BB is EIGHT today!! Happy Birthday!!

BACCHUS SUNDAY!!

A slight correction to yesterday's post. We watched FOUR parades, not three!! First was Okeanos, followed by Mid-City and Thoth. Then after about a 2 1/2 hour break came Bacchus. What a day!! We had a great group, with H1/DIL1, H2GF, DLG, Ian, BB, and Molly-moo, and DLG's friends, Dave and Shauna and kids. Dan came by late in the afternoon and stayed through most of Bacchus. KenEllie were visiting her brother, Miguel and his family so we, of course, missed them not being here. We had hoped to see Chris and Keith also, but an unexpected illness prevented them from coming. We missed them!! A few pics for the faithful, including a shot from the fountain at The Court of Two Sisters:

UPDATE: I added a photo of the "Mohawk Hunters" Mardi Gras Indians from Algiers.

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!

It's that time again!! M-A-R-D-I G-R-A-S!!! Today is "Bacchus Sunday" and we're about ready to head off to Napolean Avenue for our marathon day of parade watching! The whole family (and many friends) stake out a spot along Napolean Ave early in the morning and that's where we stay as, throughout the day and into the night, three parades pass by. It's become an annual family tradion of sorts.

It's great having H1/DIL1 back in town. Yesterday Linda, H1/DIL1 and I went to The Court of Two Sisters for a nice Jazz Brunch. We were seated in the courtyard with birds flitting about, a waterfountain a few feet away, and the jazz quartet was in the corner playing softly in the corner. The food was delicious and the company was fabulous!!

Speaking of company, H2GF's family was not able to come to Mardi Gras because of some health concerns, so we are praying that everything is ok with them. Please keep her family, especially her mom, in your prayers.

H2 is working, working, working. The police academy puts all the students out in the street during Mardi Gras which is good for experience, and extra $$ too. H2 is working 12 hour days every day. Hopefully it will make the time go by just a little bit faster for him. We're all looking forward to his graduation ceremony on May 15th.

I've been overwhelmed of late as far as school is concerned. I finally contacted my professor to drop one of the classes I'm signed up for this semester. Both classes are being taught by the same prof. After some discussion he talked me into staying the course, but cut me some slack on the due date for one of the research papers that is required. So we'll see if I made the right decision or not. For anyone intersted, my two major papers are The Ecclesiology of Alexsei Khomiakov and The Trinitarian Theology of Pope John Paul II. I hope to learn much from this experience, especially the paper on Khomiakov. He's a 19th Century Russion (I'll bet you already guessed that) Orthodox theologian.

Well, parades aren't waiting on me, so I guess I'll wrap up and head out. Take care, God Bless, and Laissez Le Bon Temps Roullez!!!

THIS PRETTY MUCH SUMS IT UP

From The Anchoress. How much damage can be done in four years? I'm afraid to think of it!

"MY NAME AND MY GAME ARE THE SAME"

It is with sadness that I write of the passing of Fr. Ellis DePriest, S.M., a priest of the Society of Mary (Marist) community. He officiated at the wedding of DLG and Major Dad. He gave First Holy Communion to H2 and Kenny, and he initiated my journey into the diaconate when, in 1992, he asked me to consider becoming a deacon.

Fr. DePriest, you will be missed by so many whose lives were enriched by knowing you! May the good Lord bless and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto You. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. AMEN!

'HO-HUM'

I don't know why I can't seem to blog more frequently of late! Perhaps it's because, as The Anchoress noted, "So much to write about, and none of it feels good." One would have thought that with our new savior, um... President on the job things would be just "hunky-dorey" but I'm just not feeling it, ya know?

Still counting down until H1/DIL1 arrive from Houston with Russell in tow (or they might be nice and let him ride inside with them). We are about bursting with anticipation of their arrival! H2 begins his Police Academy Mardi Gras routine on Friday. Long days/nights, but no classes or PT for a week or so.

BB sold (with a little help from her friends) 355 boxes of GS cookies!! Way to go, BB!! I understand the expected delivery date is in early March (during Lent, so don't give up cookies for Lent!).

I've got a nice window view of the parking lot where I work. It's nice, really, with lots of trees and flowers and grass. We have probably one of the best landscaped parking lots and parking garages in the city!! Still, the area I'm in for some reason is always frigid. I don't want to imply that it's cold, but I have to stop typing every few sentences to chip away the icicles forming in my beard.
On the upside, it's been in the seventies and sunny here the last couple of days, so being outside has been really pleasant. But I'm sure we still have a few chilly days to look forward to before summer is upon us once again.

I need prayers, people. I'm having a little trouble focusing on my schoolwork. Pray for focus, PLEASE!!! Thanks, in advance!

CRUMBS

I've been bad at blogging, and I apologize, but frankly, not much has been going on recently. I'm struggling to get back into student mode, without much success, I might add.

H2 is doing well in the Police Academy. His academics are great and he's making excellent progress physically. Graduation is May 15th and we're really excited.

BB is selling Girl Scout cookies! It's her first year, and KenEllie, Major Dad, DIL1 have all stepped up to the plate to help out. She dropped by in her uniform yesterday evening. Too cute!!

Molly-moo continues to get cuter and cuter. We were all over at MD/DLG's for the Super Bowl. After her bath Molly came running out of the bathroom with her towel hanging by the hood end on her head so it flowed like a cape. She was, of course, naked as a jaybird!! Naturally she wants to be picked up and held by "PawPaw". I prayed she would not have to pee!!

Only two weeks until H1/DIL1 and Russell and perhaps H2GF's parents come for Mardi Gras!! Can't wait! Sadly, KenEllie won't be able to join the family on "Bacchus Sunday" at St. Stephen's Church. They'll be out of town. We will miss them. H2 will probably be working, too, so he'll be missed as well.

That's about it for now. Take care. God bless!