Autumn Garden 2011

Thanks to our dear friend Beth of Dogwould Landscaping for this beautiful garden!





White Squirrel

The first time I saw this critter in my back yard, I thought it was a white lab rat.  I could not believe my eyes.  On Friday, December 16th, Ray saw it as he was going out the door, and I was able to photograph it.  He thought there might be 2 of them.  Hope it works out that we might have more white squirrels on Eastwood Ave. next spring.



First snowfall!

This was the first snowfall of the 2011-2012 winter season: Friday, December 09, 2011, 8:17:12 AM

My Christmsas Spirit is beginning to stir!



Advent, 3rd Sunday: Fire

 This week we lit the 3rd candle, for the element of Fire.  



Fire is about going on a Quest.  Fire is about doing what you need to do.  Fire is not letting thoughts or feelings or anything else interfere with wht your heart tells you to do.


We brought out the figure of the Wise Man. 

He represents Fire because he followed the Star, which is a hot bright fireball; and it was not logical or sensible, but he followed his heart and found a way to accomplish this quest through passion and courage.

Here is a prayer honoring Fire:

"Ancient sun, eternally young, 

 giver of life and source of energy, 

 In coal and oil, in plant and wind and tide,

 in spiritual light and human embrace

You kindle the heavens, you shine within us
(for we are suns with hearts afire—
we light the world as you light the sky

 and find clouds within whose shadows are dark);

We give thanks for your rays. . . ."

Yokuts Indian prayer 

Congregation of Abraxas

The Third Sunday of Advent is called "Gaudete Sunday."  Gaudete means Rejoice! because Christmas is almost here.

Wedding! Alex and Jennifer

See all our wonderful pictures!

September 2, 2011...Wedding Day in North Carolina! so beautiful...so amazing...so very special.

September 3, 2011...we spent most of the day traveling to western North Carolina for a day in Asheville to see the Biltmore Mansion 


September 4, 2011...a day at the Biltmore Mansion

September 5, 2011...on our way home from North Carolina

Maris's Birthday 2011

We were grateful to receive visits from Maris's friends in honor of his birthday.


Every year, there was a sleepover for Maris's friends.  They did wild and crazy things all night, and it was always a lot of fun.

Friends from Gordon Tech visited on Saturday, November 12--Lukasz, Brian, and Jeff:

 and Peter and Elizabeth, friends from Newberry visited on his actual birthday, November 16

  Thank you so much for being the most special friends in the world.

Advent 2011, Second Sunday

On Sunday December 4 we lit the second candle on our Advent Wreath.  It represents the element of Water.  

The flowing world of psyche, soul, and emotions is where we are now.  Raising our vibratory level a bit has made us aware of our own feelings, and those of other people.  Sometimes we receive sensations and impressions from the astral sea.

Sometimes our psyches feel as if we are caught in the undertow.  We feel at the mercy of a storm at sea.  We feel pain and bliss of every conceivable kind.

Yet we are aware of another side to Water....its ebb and flow, its ability to refresh and renew, its ability to cleanse and heal.

 Its positive expressions are dreams, visions, and intuitions.  We learn to go with the flow, to rejoice in the gentle rain that brings new life.  The purpose of emotions is to move us.

The psyche is a source of light as well as darkness, of wisdom and empathy. It takes us on a journey through the Underworld, and back again.  We may drink deeply of the cup of life.

To the creche, we added the figure of Mother Mary, who represents Water:

Mary is like the goddess Isis, who represents the River Nile, which retrieves the scattered dark earth of Egypt, and carries it to the land so that life may continue for another year. In this way she brings fertility to the earth.  She represents the waters of life.

Mary received a special message from Gabriel, the Angel of Water.  He told he she would give birth to someone very special.  Fertility is the gift of Water.


May we receive awakening.  May we ascend. May we receive that which has been scattered, feelings of light and the dark in balance.  May we receive the waters of life.

Here is a Hindu prayer, which is a Water contemplation:

"Waters, you are the ones who brinng us the life force.

Help us to find nourishment so that we may look upon great joy.

Let us share in the most delicious sap that you have, as if you were loving mothers.

 Let us go straight to the house of the one for whom your waters give us life and give us birth.

For our well-being let the goddesses be an aid to us, the waters be for us to drink.  Let them cause well-being and health to flow over us.

Mistresses of all the things that are chosen, rulers over all peoples, the waters are the ones I beg for a cure.

Soma has told me that within the waters are all cures and Agni who is salutary to all.

Waters, yield your cure as an armour for my body, so that I may see the sun for a long time.

Waters, carry far away all of this that has gone bad in me, either what I have dome in malicious deceit or whatever lie I have sworn to.

I have sought the waters today, we have joined with their sap.  O Agni full of moisture, come and flood me with splendour."

Halloween 2011

Thanks to our friends who helped us carve pumpkins for our halloween celebration!  Our back yard was beautiful.

November 1 With Olivia

Millennium Park excursion with Lady Olivia Rpobertson, November 1, 2011.

Fast Company Magazine

We enjoy seeing Philip's articles at Fast Company Magazine.


Here is an article titled We Are All T-Pain.

Scroll all the way down.  Can you figure out which T-Pain lookalike is Philip?  Hint:

Sliding Rock

After visiting the Biltmore Mansion in Asheville NC after the wedding we all went to Sliding Rock in Pisgah National Forest  for some R&R.

It was hilarious watching everyone slip and slide into the water.


Here are some entertaining  videos.

Marshfield

 Maris's good friend, Peter Carparelli, is a drummer for the band Marshfield.  They had a CD release show at the Old Town School of Folk Music on November 26.

The CD is titled Coping With the Present.  Be sure to listen to Sleepless, it was inspired by Maris.

What a special gift for Maris and all of us!

Advent 2011, First Sunday

On Sunday November 27 we lit the first candle on our Advent Wreath.  It represents the element of Earth.  

The physical, material world is where we start from.  Sometimes our bodies feel so inert and immovable. We feel so heavy, so constrained, so trapped by cause and effect.  Sometimes it feels so cold and dark.  We are aware of restrictions, necessity, work, limitations.  

But there is another side to Earth.  Its positive expressions are foundations and boundaries...things we can work with to improve our lives and give them substance...form...security...strength.  

Material things can be dense and burdensome until we give them an inner meaning.  That is our purpose in starting with Earth...to awaken it, for Spirit to descend into Matter...like the divine being born as human.


The manger is just a manger until we give it meaning, until we awaken it and it awakens us.

To the creche, we added figures representing Earth: Joseph, Ox, and Manger:

St. Joseph is a hard-working carpenter.  He has many hopes for the future. Maybe he built the manger himself? it is ready...for  something ordinary?  or something special?   He is the counterpart of the god Osiris, who represents the fertile black earth of Egypt.

The ox is also hard working.  He is just an animal...until we become aware of his soul and his being.  He works hard on our behalf.  We need to be grateful to him.  Our gratitude for the things of Earth awakens our hearts and gives wings to our minds.


May we receive awakening.  May we ascend.

Here is an Earth contemplation written by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: 

"Sons and daughters of the earth, steep yourself in the sea of matter, bathe in its fiery waters, for it is the source of your life and your youthfulness.

You thought you could do without it because the power of thought has been kindled in you?  You hoped that the more thoroughly you rejected the tangible, the closer you would be to spirit: that you would be more divine if you lived in the world  of pure thought, or at least more angelic if you fled the corporeal?  Well, you were like to have perished of hunger.

You must have oil for your limbs, blood for your veins, water for your soul, the world of reality for your intellect: do you not see that the very law of your own nature makes these a necessity for you?"

Tuxie

This is Tuxie the tuxedo cat.  Ray is fond of Tuxie.  I was trying to photograph the white squirrel, but Tuxie is all there was today.

Philip's Articles

Philip has been interning at Fast Company Magazine.
Check out his articles:


The Race For Mobile Payments / Mobile Melee
and
Meet Scott Borchetta, the Music-Industry Maverick Who Launched Taylor Swift

Philip in NYC

Philip is doing an internship this fall at Fast Company Magazine.  Watch for the December 2011 issue...Philip will have an article in it!

 He lives 2 blocks from the Hudson River on the West and a few blocks below Port Authority which is a major commute nexus. 

 He is on the edge of the Times Squares area, only 2 blocks away from the Times Square newspaper headquarters and maybe 4 block aways from Times Square itself to the east.

A Rainbow From Maris

Maris sent me this the other day.  It showed up while I was sorting through some things.  I am sharing it with you.  This is the second anniversary of our loss.  It feels like yesterday, yet it feels like forever.  We will love you forever, Maris, thank you for being part of our lives.

A Reception for Martin and Jessica

Marty and Jessica were married on June 11 in Colorado.  We were not able to attend because it was just 2 days before our trip to Ireland.  We were happy to be able to attend the reception in Highland Park when the happy couple visited Illinois.

See pictures of the reception.

Philip's Birthday 2011



Ray, Deena, Philip, Maggie

 We celebrated at Piccolo Sogno Restaurant on August 10, 2011.  Philip is now 21 years old.  The bartender took a group portrait of us toasting Philip's first legal drink.

See more birthday pictures.

Philip Writing Award

Philip submitted an entry to a student magazine contest sponsored by the  Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.  His entry placed first of 37 in his category.

We are very, very proud of him. 

See a list of winning entries and read the the judges' comments about them.

Mothers Day 2011

spent Mothers day with Philip and Ray.  Had a nice brunch at M. Henry, followed by a stroll through Rosehill Cemetery... Then to Boys Town, to visit a couple resale shops, followed by dinner at Hearty Boys restaurant.  Click on Mothers Day Pictures to see.

Books Deena Read Recently

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett...enthralling story, everyone needs to read this.  It will touch your heart and engage your mind.  Hard to believe our society was here just 60 years ago.


The Given Day, by Dennis LeHane....tense, dramatic, thought-provoking. Perspectives on the coming decade involving the NAACP, labor unions, Boston Police Department, and Babe Ruth.  There is much irony in this book.


Crossing Over, by John Edward.  Most interesting.  Sure wish I could afford to attend one of his events or readings.

Pritzger Military Library

The Pritzger Military Library is very cool.

Visit this place!  They own more than 30,000 books pertaining to the Citizen Soldier, with concentration in the Civil War and WW2.  You can rent the faciliaty for a presentation or a special event.  They have state-of-the-art recording studio, auditorium, archive room; and an interesting collection of posters and other artifacts.  There are some very old and rare books here.  The building it is in, 104 S. Michigan, is also beautiful and historic.



For pictures of the RLA-CE meeting I attended here, showing the library, click HERE.

Eric & Lindsey Bridal Shower

What a happy event, and what a happy couple!



The shower was held at Biaggio Superossa Restaurant,  I really enjoyed seeing some of our former neighbors, and meeting some new friends.

For more pictures click HERE.

Downtown Chicago , April 29

I visited the Pritzger Military Library on Friday, April 29.  It was a beautiful and springlike day.


For more Chicago scenes, click HERE.

Alex, Jen, and Memorial Day

We connected with Alex and Jennifer in DC over Memorial Day Weekend.  A few days later, Alex and Jen became engaged.  They will be married on September 2.

See our Memorial Day in DC pictures.

Happy Lammas!

Here we all are, at our Lammas celebration on August 1, 2011.

Erica's Graduation Party

Erica Pinkus and her older sister Monica were my daycare children in the early 1990s.  They were smart, sweet, and very special.  It was a joy to see them again on Erica's special day.  I am so proud of both of them!  Congratulations, Erica!!  You have done extremely well.

To see pictures from Erica's party, click on Erica's Grad Party.

Merry Midsummer!

We celebrated Midsummer on June 30, and also celebrated Kiel's birthday at the same time.

To see more pictures, click on Midsummer 2011.

Our Trip To Ireland

We visited our dear friend Olivia at her home in Clonegal, Co. Carlow, Ireland.

Pictures are divided by date. Click on each date to see the photo album for that date.

June 14
June 15
June 16
June 17
June 18
June 19
June 20
June 21

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day from Ray, Deena, and friends!

Beth, Bea, Kathy, Demetria, Ray, and Kiel

See more Maypole Dance pictures.

Ironmen Newsletter

Alex has a short article in this month's Ironmen Newsletter.  It is on p.4, under the banner for Engineer Company Commander.

He has been busy helping the engineer Company prepare for the Squadron Large Field Exercise (LFE) in June.  If you are free on June 18, you can attend Family Day at the Field, and experience
what its like to be a Marine for the day!  Hope you can make it.

For more updates, visit the Marine Corps News Room.

Happy Easter!

Here we are on Easter Sunday Morning, at Brunch.

Aunt Doree is holding the egg that lasted the longest in the Egg Ditching.

For more Easter pictures, click HERE.

Holy Saturday

Here is our cherry tree again a few days later, on Holy Saturday.  We were on our way to Swienconka....to church to have our Easter food blessed...to see more pictures, click HERE.

Our Cherry Tree

Hello from the cherry tree in our back yard!

It is so beautiful when it blooms.  Here it is at the very beginning of blooming.

Happy Spring?

Here is what we saw when we woke up the morning of April 18.

For more snowy day pictures, click HERE.

Happy Spring!

I had to work on Saturday, April 9; and Raymond paid me a surprise visit with these beautiful spring flowers!

So Busy!!!

I apologize for not posting in a long time.  Ihave been EXTREMELY BUSY.

Spring Quarter

Philip starts Spring Quarter today.

Deena's Visit to Patty Lekawa

Patty Lekawa lives in Crystal Lake.  It is a long drive from Albany Park, Chicago.


Deena and a friend made a day of it, with 2 appointments back to back.

Deena  thought it was a very good experience, and would like Ray, Alek, and Philip to see Patty, too.


Over to the Remembering Maris Blog for the rest of the story.

Happy Spring

We celebrated Spring Equinox on March 20.  Aries. Mars.New creative cycle.  May this be the year everyone on the planet awakens to something higher....in a good way....

Welcome,  Spring!

March 17, 2011

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Here is Deena, waving "Hello" to you through the library window..

Hope you are having a fun St. Paddy's Day.

Next year, 2012, it will happen on a Friday or Saturday...so plan on a big green bash at our house then!

Alex: Promotion

Alex Butta was promoted to 1st Lieutenant today, March 8, 2011!  we are so proud and happy.  But so sorry we were not there.

Alex Butta, March 8, 2011

Promotion Ceremony Pictures on Facebook.

Auntie Ev

Eveline Pabisinski

An old picture of Auntie Ev, probably from the 1940s.  I will try to get her to tell me when it was taken.

Check out our family tree, and other family photos, on our Tribal Pages website

Yesterday at Light Source

We visited Light Source Church on March 5 because we wanted to see their presentation by a girl named Kendall, whose sister Hillary  took her own life 3 years ago when Kendall was 9 years old.  Kendall wrote a book about her experiences, and her mom started a foundation called Hillary's Hope.


It was interesting to see how people deal with suicide, and how they respond to it. 


 Rev. Patty Lekawa shared some statistics about suicide, which is the third leading cause of death among young people.  Third is pretty high.  Patty refers to it as an epidemic, and something needs to be done.  

The presentation seemed to be more about education, awareness, and prevention.  But it also offered some comfort to survivors by explaining that the decision to take one's own life may be a necessary part of that soul's journey, and an agreement made before they incarnated.  It is very important that the person must not be judged or condemned in any way for their decision.   

Patty  played two music videos that portrayed different aspects of the experience..  The first one was How Do You Get That Lonely by Blaine Larsen.  

This was a powerful song, and comppleted expressed our experience.

The other video was F**kin' Perfect by Pink.  

Two different outcomes.

The Tunnel of Healing was also very powerful.  Not a good idea to resist the urge to allow the energy to knock you down, because you end up with a crick in your neck.  The alternative is to allow trained helpers to catch you before you hit the floor. 


There were no  messages for us, and we were really tired by the time we left at 11:45 pm.  But I dreamed about Maris that night.  He was very little in the dream, which seemed to be about rediscovering and sorting toys from when they were children.  He was playing with a white plastic toy stroller with lavender and pink flowers on it.  It had been purchased for him to help him learn to walk better.  when I work up, I realized we never had such a toy, although we did own a white and blue toy stroller that was decorated with a smurf.  I do not recall who we purchased it for...perhaps the daycare?  as it had come from a resale shop.  They used to enjoy putting their stuffed animals in it for a ride.


The meaning of the dream?  not readily apparent.  But I hope it will come to me.

Nathaniel Vieux 1st Birthday

Philip, Nathan, Julie, and Ray.

 To see our full set of party pictures, click HERE.

cupcakes from More.

Birthday party for Nathan on February 19, 2011 at Marc and Juilie's home on Sheridan Rd.  Cousins from out of town (Marc's siblings and families from Ohio and Kansas.) The theme was Popeye the Sailor 
Man, because Nathan is becoming a regular sailor man.  He travels the oceans on his mom and dad's boat.  Spinach was an ingredient in some of the appetizers, and Wimpy hamburgers for dinner, with Popeye cartoons to watch.  But oddly enough, no bottles of Olive Oyl!   And the world's  best cupcakes from More.