The Inscription On The Door

The gospel from today's mass left an impression on me. Not that it hasn't before, but today I really felt it. The inscription on the door says it all...

Ann Jillian, a three-time Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actress and singer, is an American actress born to Roman Catholic Lithuanian immigrant parents. In 1985 the then 35-year-old actress was diagnosed with breast cancer. On her way to the hospital to check the nature of the growth which she had noticed, she stopped at St. Francis de Sales Church and read the inscription on the door. “The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.” She went into the church and prayed for the strength to accept her ordeal.

Today

My step-mother-in-law, Judy sent this poem to me today. She lost her middle child, David, this week to medical complications that were unforeseen. As I read the poem, I realized how it not only applied to Judy's unfortunate curcumstance, but to my life's journey. I'm sharing this with you as there may be someone that just needs a little lift today. It worked for me.


Today, I will delete from my journal two days: yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday was to learn from and tomorrow...well that will be the consequence of what I can do today.

Today, I will face life with the sure knowledge that this day will never return.

Today, is the last opportunity I have to live intensely, as no one can assure me that I will see tomorrow's sunrise.

Today, I will be brave enough not to let any opportunity pass me by, my only alternative is to succeed.

Today, I will invest my most valuable resource: my time in the most transcendental work: my life...

Today, I will spend each minute passionately, to make today a different and unique day in my life.

Today, I will defy every obstacle that appears on my way, trusting I will succeed.

Today, I will resist pessimism, and will conquer the world with a smile and a positive attitude of always expecting the best.

Today, I will make of every ordinary task a sublime expression.

Today, I will have my feet on the ground understanding reality and the stars' gaze, and thus will invent my future.

Today, I will take the time to be happy and will leave my footprints and my presence in the hearts of others, not just in the sands of time.

Today, I invite you to begin a new season where we can dream that everything we undertake is possible and we fulfill that dream, with joy and dignity.

Today, why not perform a random act of kindness...?

And, if there are those that you love, tell them, you don't know when it might be your last opportunity. Tell them, as I have just done...today.

Have a good day, my friend and a better tomorrow!

I'm back

For those of you who continue to check my blog for updates, I apologize for my tardiness! I have been sucked in to the everyday life of building our dream home and yes, finally moving in over Memorial Day weekend. I have had my nose deep in the crevices of this house and have totally neglected my family and friends over the past year. I am sorry for that and just want to let everyone know that I am back among the living.

Ice Cream

Rachel came home from school today and told me she made ice cream in science lab. She was very excited about this and wanted to make some for her family. I was somewhat skeptical to let her do this so I asked her how it is made. She went into very clear detail from start to finish so I thought, why not? Dustin got the ice from the freezer and poured it into the jug. Rachel mixed the milk, salt and chocolate in the coffee can and put it into the jug. Then Dustin went to shaking the can. As he got tired shaking he would pass it to Rachel to shake for a while. Courtney even had a few shakes here and there. They must have gotten tired of shaking because next thing you know they were eating their chocolate ice cream. It was very soupy, but they enjoyed the taste and had a lot of fun making it.

What is that noise?

I kept hearing this noise coming from outside the living room window and every time I looked I could not see anything. Someone was hammering or building something. I was sure of it. Turns out after using the zoom lens I discovered the culprit up high in the pecan tree. It is so funny that I found this little guy and took his picture and today I am reading about this same thing on Karen's blog so I thought I'd post my picture (if not for anyone else but Karen!). It is definitely a woodpecker. No wonder my limbs are falling out of the trees and I thought it was from lack of rain!

The Pot of Gold

Finally, some rain. I think we've accumulated about three inches in the last two weeks. This is more than we've had over the last six months. The burn ban was lifted and we're finally able to burn the construction trash pile from the new house. Last weekend we burned for two days and got about half way through the trash pile. I hope we can get some more burned this weekend, but it looks like windy days ahead of us.

Last night after a nice shower, we were presented with a beautiful rainbow to the east of the house. Rachel told me she saw the pot of gold. I told her we're going to need it to pay for this house!

The kids also brought home their report cards yesterday. The good thing is that they are all passing. Rachel brought up her "B" from last time and now has all "A"s. Dustin's scores are much more diverse and Courtney raked in all "S+"s. Dustin and Rachel also got their TAKS scores back for the reading exam. Rachel made 100% and got a commended performance score. She was the only one in her class that got all of the answers correct. She also recently doubled her AR goal which is a reading program the kids do to help them with reading comprehension. Dustin met the standard which is an improvement for him as well. We are proud of all of them for trying their best.

Farewell Vrazels Polka Band

It is no secret in East Bell County or all over the world that the Vrazels Polka Band is one of the greatest of all time. The band members live only a few miles from us and we've been entertained by them quite a few times. They have followers that travel to nearly every dance all over the state of Texas and even as far as the Czech Republic. Keith's Dad, Ken and his step-mom Judy are of that group of followers. After 55 years of entertaining the band decided to retire and held a farewell retirement dance at the Mayborn Convention Center in Temple. The dance was scheduled for Saturday, January 24th from 3:00 to 8:00 with the doors opening at 1:00. Ken and Judy stood in line for some time to get in the door early. They are so faithful! Keith and I and the kids decided to get there at about 2:30. When I asked the lady at the ticket booth for two tickets (kids got in free) she told me it was standing room only and asked if I still wanted a ticket. Are you kidding me? Of course we got the tickets and went in and mingled with the other 500 people that could not find a seat. They reported selling 1700 tickets and with half the room taking up the dance floor, it was crowded to say the least. The band played their favorite songs while a thousand people at any given time danced along. I actually got to dance to one of the songs. Thanks again, Daniel, for the dance! During the intermission, there were several groups and organizations that gave awards and tributes to the band. Ken and Judy's group of followers put together a plaque for the band members' wives that thanked them for all that they did and another for the band members. It was a very special moment for them with many teardrops falling.

We were having a great time but got kind of hungry. The concession stand hot dogs and chili did not look very appetizing or sound appealing so we left the dance and went to the Texas Roadhouse just up the road a few miles. Had a wonderful steak dinner while a Christian youth raising money for missions made balloon animals for the kids.

After dinner we went back to the dance just in time for Courtney's favorite "Polka Celebration" as the band continued playing several songs past 8:00. The band was also surprised at the turnout and thought it would be nice to give a few more songs in return. We got to visit with the band briefly and take a few photos after the crowd left. To the left above is Ken and Judy with Bernice and Alfred Vrazel (band leader). On the right is Courtney and Rachel with Tommy Strmiska (drummer). Tommy invited us to the after dance party at Tom Sefcik Hall but we decided to pass on the party and leave that to the hard-core followers. We love you, Vrazels, and will miss you!

Basketball Season

It's the time of year for basketball. Both girls decided to play this year. Rachel played last year for the Academy team because she was the only girl her age from Rogers that signed up at the Ralph Wilson Youth Club. This year, Keith decided to coach her team and recruited enough girls from Rogers to make a team. There is also one girl from Academy playing with them because she was the only one that signed up from Academy (her Dad was the coach last year). Tonnia and Ricky Crow (brother and sister) are coaching Courtney's team. I learned after talking to Ricky one day that he coached Kate Jahns when he was a coach in Rosebud. Small world... These are fun times with the kids. They are building skills and playing with their friends. They are also competing against the other schools in the area that they will compete against all the way through school. They don't keep score at this age, but we really know who the winners are!

D.W.R.C.W.'s Storage Ben

It is amazing what kids can do. When my brother, William, came to the house with loads of the wood flooring for the new house, he brought his two boys William and Wyatt. Dustin had been working on a dog house out of the scraps from building the house and it kind of snowballed into making a dog house and a storage building. It was so cute watching all five of the kids working together hammering and putting together their own masterpiece. When they finished they signed their names on the dog house which they named "Buck's Racecar" and put their initials on the storage building which they called "D.W.R.C.W.'s Storage Ben". They even put hooks and nails inside to hang things on and made a counter in front so they could play store. I think they did a great job, don't you? Now, if I could just get them to do something with that pile of rocks...

Happy New Year

Determined to get our new house ready to move into sometime in the year 2009, we hastily continued to set the tile and prepare the concrete for the wood flooring. To our surprise, our friends and neighbors, the Higgins family, came to our rescue. To help us set tile? No, but they did bring a variety of beverages to keep us occupied. The kids did a little excerpt from their Beauty and the Beast play and had fun showing little Patrick around the new house, careful not to let him step on the wet tiles. Not too long after they went back home we had another friend and neighbor pay us a visit and this time she was in for the long haul. Donna had taken her daughter Lauren to a friend's house for the evening and noticed our lights were on and stopped by to visit. We convinced her that the Andel Ranch was the place to be for the New Year's celebration and put her right to work sweeping the floor. As the countdown drew nearer we settled into the lawn chairs and took a much needed break and boy were we thirsty! Dusty had already crashed at his usual 8:30 bed time, but the girls were still going like the Energizer Bunny even past midnight. "Happy New Year" echoed throughout the hollow house as we all cheered for the beginning of another year. Getting up for 8am mass was quite a challenge this morning, but we made it just in time for the bells to ring, as usual.