Jubilee Holy Year of Mercy

Working on some Mercy art for the upcoming 

Jubilee  Holy Year of Mercy

Starts December 8, 2015

You have my permission to copy these to use as worship/class aids

Shiawassee Auto Tour

It was a beautiful ride through on the last day of the season.  So glad we remembered to go.  All of these pictures were taken during the ride.  It was brilliantly sunny, then cloudy, then the sun would come back out again.  We rolled down the windows and put the heat on.  It was a beautiful fall morning.

Sandhill Cranes had just taken off with a flock of geese then they realized they were following geese and turned around to come back!

A few years ago Robbie yelled, "STOP" as we were driving through the Shiawassee.  He had seen an owl.  So we stopped where he had seen that owl and there were a couple hooting back and forth to each other.  We only saw the one, but they answered me when I hooted!

There were lots of egrets, but only one Great Blue Heron, I tried to get a picture but he was fast.

The eagle's nest that causes us to not be able to go through the Shiawassee until after the baby birds have flown away.

Smiles All Around

Stephen Colbert, John Legend and John Baptiste

America the Beautiful

Last night on the Late Show

Holy Father in Philadelphia

My niece asked for our favorite moments of the Holy Father's visit - this is what I wrote to her on her Facebook post:

When he went unscripted speaking to the families he was so eloquent, so filled with love for the people. He should have been exhausted and totally rundown after 10 days of a schedule a young person would find difficult. Instead he looked rejuvinated, full of energy. 

He showed he understands family dynamics, about arguments (plates thrown) family relations (mother-in-law) - the things that happen in a family. 

However, this is my favorite: "Sometimes, at home, I see some of my collaborators who come into work with dark circles under their eyes. They have a baby who is a month old, or two moths old, and I ask them, "You didn’t sleep?" "Oh no, he cried all night long." In families, there are difficulties, but these difficulties are overcome with love. Hate doesn’t overcome any difficulty. Division of hearts doesn’t overcome any difficulty. Only love is capable of overcoming difficulties. Love is a festival. Love is joy. Love is to keep moving forward."

M.E. is Very Happy This Morning!

This is the Feedjit from my Book Blog this morning

http://saginawseries.blogspot.com

6 out of 7 people came into my blog to find Bishop Ken's homilies.

That they get a chance to read his wise words makes me so happy.

Not a Good Sign

We saw an eagle by the side of the road eating a carcass.  It never flew away even when a women got out of her car to take pictures. We stayed in the car a good distance away.

It could walk so I would guess it couldn't fly. Maybe we can go again tomorrow to see if it is still in the area.

My Mom's Friends

All through my Mom's life she made friends.  When working at St. Mary Cathedral the teachers all came to her office for advice and relief from the tensions of teaching.  Over the years, towards the end of the school, she became very close with a few of the women who would work with her until the school closed.  They were much younger than my Mom, but friendship knows no age.

Barb Geary was the last Principal of the grade school.
Suzanne Robinson was a social worker
Velma Breidinger ran the learning center
Bette Jo taught fourth grade

There were many, many Friday nights at the Shea home.  Over the years, they became very good friends.

I am writing the book, New Beginnings, and I have a chance to have the grade school be a part of the book.  In all the other books the high school has been featured.  Now, I wanted my Mom to be a part of a book and I wanted to honor these women for being such pillars of the school and such good friends to my Mom.

I wrote to them asking if I could include them in the book.  The notes I received with their permission made me cry.  I am so thankful they are still a part of my life.

Fun Up North

I love going to the bridge. We usually cross, but I am just as happy to sit and watch traffic drive over it. The weather was so beautiful we sat on a bench by the Lake in front of the lighthouse.

Honeymoon Weekend

We had such a nice time at Huron House.  The weather was a little more crisp than usual becuase it was a week later with Labor Day being so late this year.

On Saturday the wind was blowing so hard that we even moved off the Sunrise Room deck to the table and chairs in front of our front door to block the wind.  That is where this picture was taken.

A little hazy, but still good!  (The photo and the couple!)

We ate at Topsider and Bikini's - both in the old Holiday Inn - on Friday and Saturday.  OK, but not Pier 23.

We watched some of the triathalon.  Four people with hypothermia with one first responder.  They couldn't stop shaking after the swim portion.  One girl so disappointed she couldn't stop crying.  We decided to take off when most of the bikers had returned and were off on their run.

The sunrises were covered with cloud banks this year, but as you can see from the post below they were still beautiful.  Can't say enough about how much we love the Huron House.

And certainly can't say enough about how much I love my Paco.

Delayed Sunrise

The sunrise was projected for 7:09. The cloud bank made it 8:05!

But still beautiful both days.

 Sunday above - Saturday below

Cute!

Driving down Forest St. off old US23. Saw this cute door. Love it!

Class of 70 lunch at El Rancho Grande

We had a great time.  Mary Ann was in Saginaw from Arizona.  Joe from Massachusetts.  Carla was in town from downstate.  Tom from Flushing.  Noreen and Tom from West Branch.  Kathleen from Warren.  The rest of us from Saginaw.  Joe and Elinor took people around the restaurant showing pictures of their relatives.  It was a great day.

Very Thankful

Our friend, Jack, came over to help Pat. Our tenant's garbage disposal died. His back isn't totally healed (he says it almost is - I say not even close to being healed). Must be hard for a plumber to ask for plumbing help.

Now Jack is pulling weeds out of the gutters. We are so thankful for good friends.

Sew Cute

Javier asked me if I ever sued anyone. My mind went blank and then I wondered why he wanted to know. Was someone getting sued in our family?

He said, "Well I was wondering if it took a long time."

He said we just passed Speedy Sew and he wanted to know how fast that would be!

Probably last visit this year

We are going for a late lunch - early dinner - DRUNCH - today.

Sadly, it probably will be our last meal there this year. 

They close just before Labor Day.

This is our favorite up north restaurant.

Pat always gets the perch and I always get the trout.

*** Oh my goodness***

So we sit down on the deck and our friend Peggy from the City comes over to day hi.

It was so nice to see her.

She took a picture for us.

This is Peggy with her friend. 

It was a great day.

Breakfast at the Campfire

I will post pictures after we get to Tawas.  Pat and I are going to make breakfast for the campers.  Caroline and Danielle and their families are all there waiting for breakfast.  Well, they probably are not up yet - it is only 6 am.

But I have been cooking since 5.  We are having baked pancakes - in a cake pan.  Aunt Janie eggs - scrambled with cream cheese and dill.  Hashbrowns, bacon and fruit.

I baked the pancake cake.
I cooked the bacon almost done
I cooked the hashbrowns almost done
I stirred up all the ingrdients for the eggs
I bought the fruit all cooked.

So - start a fire - warm up everything - cook the eggs - done!

It went very well. Except... We forgot to take pictures of the breakfast.  Here are some of the fun we had.

Let's see

***Update***

Nope - lost again
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Final chance - 9th inning - 5-1

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10:45 - Pat went to bed - bad sign

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Miguel Cabrera is back off the disabled list. Let's see how they all do tonight.

New Beginnings

Clarence Lum, a Saginaw resident, is the featured artist at Fandangles' in Flushing for the month of August.  When I saw his painting, Prada Girl, my heart started to pound, my mind began to race, a story began to tumble out of my heart.  

I am happy to announce that I have purchased the rights to use his painting as the cover of my next book, "New Beginnings." Since seeing this painting at the end of July, I have been so inspired.  I already have a draft of the first nine chapters finished.

It is a story of a mother and her daughter, Aubrey and Annie, moving to Saginaw from Texas.  They are invited to live with a cousin and her daughter, Brianna and Riley.  The story will follow where they have been and where they are headed after many "New Beginnings."  As a matter of fact, Annie is tired of "New Beginnings" she just wants life to stay the same for awhile.

This eBook will be published sometime in 2016.  I am thankful for the inspiration that Clarence has provided.  To see more of his paintings click the link.

http://clarencelum.weebly.com/

My published books are available on Amazon, click the link.

http://amzn.to/SuRAN0

45th Class Reunion

 Such a fun night. Fandangles hosts Tom and Steve outdid themselves. The chance to get to see everyone and catch up was the best.

Yummy Dinner

Sorry no pics, sorry no measurements. This was amazing.

Preheat oven 450
Get oven proof pan with olive oil very hot on top of stove

Mix
Olive oil
Soy sauce
Red wine
Salt
Pepper
Mrs. Dash
Squeeze garlic, ginger, parsley

Dip pork chops
Put in hot pan sear 3 minutes, turn over sear 3 minutes
Add lemon based vinaigrette to marinade
Pour over chops.
Roast in oven for 20 minutes

Spent the morning crying

I love Aubrey and Annie,  Brianna and Riley. These women are the main characters in New Beginnings, the eBook I am writing.

I spent an emotional morning with them. Crying as I wrote chapter after chapter.  As a writer I am amazed when this happens.

So Excited

Right after the Class Reunion on Saturday I will be revealing the cover of the next book. Clarence Lum, a classmate from St. Mary Cathedral, is the artist.  It has always been one of my favorite paintings of his, but last week when I saw it Inspiration hit.

Stay tuned.......

This is getting old

I have an infection by a tooth that has to come out.  I got chills and then sweats and then chills again. I had a fever and my mouth hurt.

My dentist is on vacation so I had to see the doctor who is covering for him. I knew I needed an antibiotic, but as every good doctor would do she wouldn't prescribe without seeing me. I called on Monday and they got me in on Tuesday at 8:15.
That meant an exam, an xray, and digital pictures. It also meant filling out three pages of medical new patient forms.

She was very nice and her staff was too. And even though I was worried about what the cost would be, it was only $77.

I wish I would feel a lot better, not yet though.

Stuck at home

Pat is still feeling pain in his back, leg and ankle. We are staying close to home.

He thought the therapy made it worse so he didn't go back after the cataract surgery. In all fairness I didn't go back either. I felt 100% better.

I know it's driving him nuts. I ask every day if he thinks he should go back to the doctor. Every single day he says no. Today he told me to quit asking.

This is getting frustrating.

Lunch

We had lunch with friends from St. Mary Cathedral High School this week. We ate at Pier 23 in Tawas. The food was delicious.

When I saw a post that Connie was up north I contacted her brother to let her know we would be in town. Elinor contacted Barb, Bob and Yvonne. I called Noreen. Then I saw another picture posted by Connie's brother and noticed Sheila was there. I sent another message asking her to come too.

Yvonne and Noreen couldn't come but we had a great time.

Yeah! Finally!

My latest eBook has been published. Click the photo.