Hurray for Saint Anthony!

Today I was cleaning out the car, and was feeling generally discouraged about life, because it was hot, and I was peeved. Then Mom came out and said, "Sheila, guess what I found!", and I had no idea what it could be. It turned out that it was my viola music which I'd spent long, hard, frustrated afternoons scouring boxes for and pleading to Saint Anthony to find. I'd even put a reward of a cake made for whoever found it... Anyway, as you can well imagine, it made my day. I'd spent almost 4 weeks looking for it, and then, the day before my orchestra audition, Mom found it. I was ecstatic. And extremely grateful to Saint Anthony for finding.

And then I got this sweater from LLBean that I've wanted for over a year. It's the best sweater I've ever worn.

And then I went boogie-boarding with the Melleins, and that was great too. I'm so happy.

Editors note: This post has been entirely positive, and I didn't say anything about how the water got turned off again this morning because Deirdre and my sink was leaking... Aren't you proud of me?

Another Editors Note: St. Anthony is a candidate for my confirmation saint. I'll write more about him later.

My life in general

Life has not been all that exciting. It's been getting ready for school, etc., and swimming and reading and writing and looking through boxes frustratedly for four of my school books and my viola music. (Saint Anthony....) Until this morning, that is...

I was awakened at 8:30, which is way too early unless I'm going to Mass. Especially because I was up reading until past 1:30 last night. Anyway, so Mom comes in and says to me and Deirdre, "Get up and help Iain move boxes out of the garage." Or something to that effect. I, being the sunny, morning person that I am, rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep while fending off questions about where important books are, etc. Note the word "attempted", dear readers. Anyway, I got up and walked into the garage which had about an inch of water covering almost the entire floor. The garage is currently storage for books and tools and such like, all still in boxes. We had water all over the floor yesterday because of a leaky pipe, but that all got straightened out with the usual, ginormous plumber's fee. So, I was dismayed to see that our water filtration system was spewing water everywhere. (As my Great-Grandfather would say, (and this is a modified version so as not to shock you all) "A story isn't worth telling if it isn't worth embellishing.") So, we desperately moved sopping wet boxes out of the garage and into the nice, 85 degree sunshine. I practically slipped several times, and I was cleaning up some cards that had gotten wet when this black spider clambered across my hand. Those of you who even remotely know me know that I have a zero-tolerance spider policy. So I flipped out, etc. and Iain and Deirdre had less major flip-outs at me. It was not a good morning. Note that it's 9:25 as I post this. I would normally be getting up about this time, or later, but only earlier if I were at Mass right now. *sigh* Oh, and did I mention that this is the third time in as many days that our water has had to be turned off? And that Dad left yesterday for a medical conference and he's not going to be home until Sunday?

Anyway, not everything in life has been as rotten as our pipes and garage. We went to the beach on Monday, and I discovered that boogey-boarding is easy and way fun. Way easier than body-surfing, which I tried last time I went to the beach. I've only been twice, which for having been here three and a half weeks, is pretty rediculously pathetic. I love the beach, though. And we went with this really great, Catholic family whom I love. We're probably *hopefully* going again with them tomorrow, and I might just make myself learn to surf. I'll keep you posted.

Bing started at TAC on Tuesday, (she got there on Thursday, though, for orientation, etc.). She seems to be doing well, but is quite sorely missed by all the family. And when I go to set the table... It's just really confusing. But she's having a really good time, and meeting great people. The campus is pretty, and she's totally in love with the campus, which helps.

Anyway, I have to go find wet books and dry them, so "I'll see you next time." I'm praying for you all. As Mr. Sims would say, "God love you!" :)

Provocative...

"I dedicate this post to Claire Russell." ~Deirdre

Blue, white, orange, green, red, blue, orange, green, clear, white, red.

Guess what this sequence of colours is taken from, and win the grande prize!

Following Trends...

The recent trends among bloggers seems to be posting great quotes. So, I decided that a few of my own favorites were in order.

"Where there is no love, put love, and there you shall find it."
~St. John of the Cross

"Without the burden of afflictions, it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase."
~St. Rose of Lima

"If you are who you should be, you will set the world ablaze!"
~Pope John Paul II (If you didn't know that, you should be shot)

"Beware! To touch these wires is instant death. Anyone found doing so will be prosecuted."
~Anonymous Railroad Station Sign

"Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours."
~Yogi Berra

"I have been told that Wagner's music is better than it sounds."
~Bill Nye

"If I could drop dead right now, I'd be the happiest man alive."
~Samuel Goldwyn.

I have way too many more, but those are probably the ones I identify best with. Especially the second to last. Now, if I could find one that said the same about Debussy...

By Popular Demand

You asked for it, guys.

It's hot here, and the pool feels great when it's way over 95 degrees. I've been swimming all afternoon. It's wonderful.

Anyway, God bless you all. Enjoy the nice, mild Washington weather for me. I'll *enjoy* the heat for you.

The Breakfast Nook.

Michelle told me to post, so I decided to be an obedient person and do it.

This is a view of our Breakfast Nook in our kitchen. See, isn't it pretty? I think you guys should all come visit us so you can see it in person. A good opportunity for doing this would be next May(ish). I'm probably getting confirmed, (more details later), and several of you will be dead if you don't come. Also, I'll probably ask at a later date who you vote for for Confirmation Saint for me. I have several Saints to choose from, so once I've narrowed them down a bit, I'll let you know.

God bless you guys! I'm praying for all of you.

Mountains at last!

At last is right. The mountain views I've been hearing about for such a long time have finally emerged. It's been pretty gray ever since Deirdre and I got here last Saturday; Bing tells us we brought the Washington weather with us. But California is proving itself worthy of the adjective 'sunny'. Today it got up above 85, which felt surprisingly wonderful. The mountains are covered in live pines or something, and they look more like large hills to me than anything else. They are called the "Topa Topa Mountains", which I think is the most rediculous name for a mountain range ever. I haven't yet seen the so-called "Pink Moment", which apparently only occurs when there are enough clouds in the West and the sun shines through them creating a pink haziness sort of thing all around Ojai. The two first impressions I got of California were when we were flying into Burbank and in the car ride on the way home. I looked out of the plane window, and the first thing out of my mouth was, "Woah. That's a LOT of pools!" I'm dead serious, there's a pool in almost every backyard. (Including our own.) The second was that there are palm trees everywhere. Everywhere. It's like the state tree, flower, bush, bird, igloo, and everything else. I never knew there were more than maybe two varieties of palm trees, but I was mistaken. I can't count how many different species I've seen without using my toes! Crazy...
Anyway, our house is pretty nice, but it's no where near as nice as the yard and pool. The pool/hot tub are so cool. The hot tub flows into the pool most of the time, in two mini waterfall things. The pool is shaped sort of like an 8, and gets about 7-8 feet deep. I love it. We have 3 and a half acres, with gorgeous landscaping and tons of pretty flowers. I'm still trying to decide which flower gets the "favorite" prize. I really like the willow tree outside Deirdre's and my door/window. It's really cool. But you don't have to take my word for it. Come visit us and find out for yourself. :)
I should go see if the brownies are done cooking (yumm...), so until next time, God bless you! I love *most* of you guys. ;)