The Clock is Ticking...

We are quickly closing the books on 2012. For Haime and me, its been a year of blessings. As we look back on this year, we are thankful for our lives together; for our children (all 6 of them), our grandchildren (6 of them too), our parents (mom is the only one of this group who is still with us), and our siblings and their families. We are thankful for our health, our friends and our faith. We are thankful for the opportunities we have to travel, to explore, to entertain loved ones and mostly, to understand and acknowledge that all of our bounty comes from God. 

Neither Haime nor I would be considered particularly "religious." In fact, given some choices we've made in our independent earlier versions of ourselves, some might laugh at that suggestion for either of us. However, one of the great things about life is that it is ever evolving. Further, we ourselves continue to evolve. As we have both matured, so has our faith and our humble attempts to evolve into better and better versions of ourselves. I attend mass more frequently than does Haime, however, Haime has always had a much more personal relationship with God. As we look forward to 2013, our hopes, plans and wishes are more often inclusive of simple things like being more aware of the abundant gifts we are given and giving thanks for them.

One of the readings from mass this weekend was a road map for how to live our lives and the things we should strive to do in the coming year. It is taken from Col 3:12-17 and we believe that striving to follow it's message is a much better idea than making any resolutions for the New Year. 

Brothers and sisters:

Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,

heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

bearing with one another and forgiving one another,

if one has a grievance against another;

as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.

And over all these put on love,

that is, the bond of perfection.

And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,

the peace into which you were also called in one body.

And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,

singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

with gratitude in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed,

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Our wish for all of you, friends, family and readers, is for a year of good health, good friends, a loving family, good times, and good memory-making opportunities. 

Live Well, Love Much, and Laugh Often.

TTFN, 

Haime & Lois

It's the Hap...Happiest Season of All...

I'm not a big Will Ferrell fan but I'm also not a big fan of "slap stick" or the "stupid comedy" so prevalent today. (Geez, I sound like an old bitty...) I love comedy but I just can't get into the typical Will Ferrell (or Jim Carey for example) type of comedy. At any rate, I LOVE Will Ferrell's movie Elf. So, put yourself into the Elf mindset and say it with me..."Santa's coming, Santa's coming. I know him!"

I'm also a BIG fan of Christmas. I totally get into the whole thing. I decorate everything,
 (yes, including the bathrooms and laundry room). Even more than fall, (see my earlier posts), I love the smells, the sounds, the tinsel, the decorations, the lights, the palpable feelings of excitement and anticipation, and the thrill of the hunt. For me, the hunt is more than finding the perfect present for everyone, it's the hunt for finding the Spirit of Christmas in as many places as I can. It's the hunt for like-minded individuals who are bursting with the Spirit of Christmas and who, by just being around, spread their joy to the rest of us. It's the taking time to enjoy friends and family, just because you love them and want to be around them. It's attending Advent masses and retreats and getting your spiritual life in-order so "remembering the reason for the season" has deeper meaning every year. I love listening to Carter tell us what he wants Santa to bring him. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! One of my favorite things to do for Christmas, when my boys were growing up, was to attend their school Christmas programs. Whether they were part of the chorus, or played in the band, or had some part in one of the plays, school Christmas programs are too cool. They are one of life's constants and are not to be missed. This year was Carter's first Christmas program. His age group of children can only be described as perfect. When they came out in their reindeer antlers, (and reindeer tails), they stole the show. (Of course, this Nana might be a bit biased---NOT).

We celebrated Christmas Eve at my mom's with my 4 sisters and there families (except my niece, Sarah, who is still in the UK--we missed her). Most of us attended mass together beforehand then went to mom's for tamales, chili and all the fixin's. Today, Haime and I attended mass (again for me) and Reece and his girlfriend joined us. We met Chipper, Mallory and Carter at our house for breakfast and presents then everyone (my sisters and their families) came to our house for Christmas lunch. I love being around those I love for Christmas (and everytime we can arrange it). As we celebrate Christmas this year, we are ever mindful of the families who will not be together and we offer our prayers for them.


 From our family to yours, Haime and I wish you all a very Merry, Wonder-filled, Joyful Christmas.

Family. You gotta love 'em....right?

We celebrated our annual extended family Christmas today. These are my mom's siblings and their spouses and all of us, progeny. If my mom's generation is considered the P1 of this group, the genetic sample size is 5 then, add 3 spouses for a total of 8; my mom and one of her sisters are widows. I am, by definition, part of the P2 generation and there are 11 of us cousins + nearly that many spouses/significant others for about 19. The P3 generation numbers start to get a little more interesting, there are many more involvements here. We have biological children, step-children, spouses/significant others and legally separated but still involved relationships so the numbers here are closer to 40. The P4 generation is just getting started and has only one representative at this point. So, theoretically, we could have annual Christmas parties of  70, without breaking a sweat. Just to keep things particularly interesting, there are multiple cases where the P2 and P3 generations overlap...that is, there are representatives from P3 that are older than some in P2 and where the P4 generation is older than P3. Today, was a relatively small gathering with only about 31 attendees. Fortunately, each generation was represented. 

I actually love getting together for this annual function. I enjoy seeing my cousins and their children. It never ceases to amaze me how much older the "kids" are than what I envision them to be in my mind's eye. This is especially true if I haven't seen them in a couple of years. You know, we experience change ourselves and with our immediate family but, while we know intellectually that time marches on for all of us at the same rate, (no I'm not going to discuss some of the time continuum theories here); we forget that fact with people we don't see everyday. One case in point is Reagan, the second son of one of my cousins. Reagan graduated from college this past May, as did my son Reece. Intellectually, I know that they are the about the same age and both have started their adult careers. I even know that Reagan is on the "FREAKING BRILLIANT" end of the intellectual spectrum. I haven't seen Reagan in a couple of years. So, while my brain knew these the things about him, I was still amazed at the incredibly articulate, friendly and fun young man that I visited with today, especially since in my heart, he should be only about 12 years old. 

This cartoon doesn't particularly have any direct
relation to my post, I just like it.

The age range for our group is about 2 years to 80+ (my aunt Mary Louise would not like me to be more specific than that); and we are so blessed that we are close enough to enjoy cross-generational conversations. Don't misunderstand...this is family, so there is drama! People get their feelings hurt, or their panties bunched, or whatever; the important thing is that we mostly get over it. You all know that cartoon: "Our family tree has a bunch of nuts;" but, its family so you gotta love 'em...right? 

TTFN, 

Lois

Shared pain

I went to a funeral today for a man that I did not know particularly well. He and his wife are members of our church and his wife is a member of a church organization to which I belong. Additionally, I went to elementary and high school with one of his wife's sisters. It just seemed right today that I attend the funeral mass. During the homily, the priest talked about us being under two clouds today. The first, the cloud of grief for the family and friends of the man, Louis, whose funeral we were attending; the second cloud was a bigger cloud, one that engulfed the world as we mourn the horribly tragic slaughter of innocent children and adults at Sandy Hook elementary school yesterday. 

Louis, the priest went on, was a devoted husband, father and he was especially devoted to his only grandchild. Father Dennis, our priest, painted a picture of this devoted grandfather embracing all of the innocent children and comforting them with the knowledge that they are all surrounded by our Savior's love and light for all eternity.

Clearly I cannot give justice to the beautiful image painted for us, but I can tell you that there was not a dry eye in the place.

Hug your children a little tighter, whether they are babies or adults. Hug your friends, family members and be sure that all those you love, know that you love them. Pray for the families of those involved. Pray for all of us as we try and make sense of this nightmare.

A Horse of a Different Color

"A horse is a horse of course of course..." (please tell me that all of you recognize the opening words to the "Mr. Ed" theme from the early-mid-sixties.)  This post is really not about horses or any closely related equines, for that matter; rather, it is about twists of fate and dealing with change. So how, you might ask, does change have anything to do with a reference to an obscure memory for my childhood and specifically about horses?  Well, I'll tell you...I've helped people deal with changes in their lives for years. Professionally, my last job was in human resources. Let me just say, during certain parts of the year, the "career counseling" I did with people was all about dealing with change.

Its funny how we view things differently when we are directly involved. Haime and I moved with Chip and Reece to California from Texas several years ago when Haime accepted a promotion. It was a great decision for us all. The boys (at the time, men now...where the hell did the time go?) met some lifelong friends, Haime was very successful in his position and my career couldn't have been better. Mostly, we made some amazing and lifelong friends ourselves whom we miss everyday. When we told my family that we were moving, my parents were very supportive and never made us feel bad about our decision. Then...

Late last week we learned that Chip and Mallory might be relocating due to a job offer. WOW...suddenly the tables were turned. My first, (and honestly, my only real reaction) was one of pride. I was actually sort of surprised by that. I've written several times about how genuinely proud I am of our kids (whether by birth or marriage) and this felt like an expression of that. Haime and I talked about how often we'd travel to see them (OK, really we talked about seeing Carter), but we also talked about what an opportunity this might be for them. They have decided to stay put and continue working here which is great for us, but I'm also very sure that they will probably leave the area one day to pursue some career advancement. We remain very proud of them and the fact that others see what talent they have; I am also very proud of the fact that we can let them go, to pursue the path that is right for them.

Funny how being on the outside of changes around you, and looking in, is so very different than being more directly involved. You might even call it "a horse of a different color."

TTFN

Lois