Recovery of a Catholic Life: making the First Black Funeral Pall in the Diocese of Monterey in 40 years

Gaudete Sunday is a joyful one in the penitential season of Advent, when we use Rose, that colour between the Red of Martyrs and the Violet of Mourning. That night, we heard a Faithful of Watsonville had passed away. it was related to us by Father Marc Dauphine, that the Lady who had passed away had requested a Requiem Mass in the Traditional Latin form for her Funeral.

Although we have most of the items that are required for a Requiem Mass, such as a Requiem Missal, most of the Black Vestments, not to mention a Schola and Servers, some are missing. One of the items that was missing was a Black Funeral Pall that goes over the casket. Normally this takes about 10 yards of fabric, and the Funeral was scheduled for Thursday the 17th of December. Heather was voluteered (by me) to make the Pall, and had about three days to make it. Thankfully, it did not seem too difficult, and there was a minimum of decorations to do. A Cross did have to be applied.

It was done on time, and the Pall was put over the Casket for the Requiem Mass. Four more crosses could be added to the corners for symetry, but it all came off well.

here is something we are willing to bet money on: This is probably the only Black Funeral Pall in the entire Diocese of Monterey. We tried looking for one at some of the churches around area, but none was to be found.

So, if one is looking for a Black Funeral Pall, we finally have one, and it is ready for use again.

10 yards of fabric is heavy, by the way!

Best Gingerbread Cookies Ever!!!

Who can resist!?!

Best Snowmen Ever

Scariest Christmas Decoration EVER!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year... except when people put up pure, uncut nightmare fuel for Christmas decorations.

This either a Nutcracker or Toy Soldier, or both, put up at Candy Cane Lane in Pacific Grove. We have been going for several years now. Although the decorations don't change much form year to year, it is still nice to see an entire neighbourhood put up Christmas decorations.

Still...

This thing is huge. It is about 12 feet tall, with floodlights for the eyes. Few things have cared me as much.

Our Christmas Tree in Progress

Here is the Mendoza Christmas Tree for 2009 in the process of going up. Our Guinea Pig, Henry Ulysses Kramer de Mendoza the Third, was moved form this corner of the house to a space closer to the TV, on the other side of the Davenport. More pictures to come soon.

Merry Christmas from the Mendoza Family

Merry Christmas from the Mendoza Family, and from the Central Coast of California. keep us in your prayers, as we keep all of you, our friends, in our prayers. You are all very special to us, and cannot imagine the world without you and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Take car, God bless, and we wish you a blessed new Year 2010.

Fake Ulysses Sighting: Rude New Hampshire Edition!

Some may know that we have recently returned from the state of New Hampshire for vacation. We went for the blessed event of a Baptism, the making of a new Christian, but we also had time to do some other stuff, like...

ULYSSES SIGHTING!

Even all the way across the continent, there are all sorts of people driving these huge, powerful red trucks, and some of them are very convincing. You could almost believe that a powerful Naval Officer could drive some of these.

So we took some pictures of some of the more convincing ones. For your viewing pleasure, we present one of them right here.

If you look carefully at the truck in the foreground (You can click on the picture to enlarge it), you can see that it is indeed a Red Pick-up Truck. It even has one of those larger cabs that could fit 4, maybe 5 people. It looked like it had been taken off-roading. It had the appropriate Black trim. This particular truck was even in a church parking lot, so that was good. The driver could not be found, so we could not really be sure.
BELIEVABILITY RATING: 25%.

While indeed this was a Red Pick-up Truck, we were in New Hampshire, which is quite a ways from where Ulysses is currently at. Also, this pick-up truck in the foreground is a Dodge Ram, which is totally different from what he drives. Also, we don't thin that Ulysses would be caught dead in the parking lot of Church shaped like a witch's hat.

This sighting had much promise, but alas we were denied. If only we had seen more Red Pick-up Trucks that day. Perhaps we might have had better luck.

We had other sightings, but we will get to those in due time. In the meantime, there is a bit of a corner of a huge White Van just at the right edge of the picture. Maybe later we can zoom in on that for a...

KRAMER SIGHTING!

Stay tuned for more sightings!

Kramer Sighting of the Week!: December 5th, 2009

America! You have been lied to!

Yes, we all know about Climategate and Obama's 'Health' care stuff.

No, we are talking about the Kramers.

They would like for people to think that they have left the Central Coast of California for the Sunny Clime of Florida.

That is not true.

You are being lied to.

They are in fact still around, and we have seen them! Although we were not able to catch up to them, we did manage to take a picture of their van, and we post it here for your viewing pleasure!

Although this vehicle is way smaller than their van, we are convinced it it them. Their van is in fact classified as a bus, and this one closely matches that description. It is also white in colour, and has those huge mirrors. The grill looks a little bit different, black this time instead of chrome. Maybe they're bombing up their van. You know, getting some custom work done on it. Maybe stretching it. It seems they might have done this. Notice also they have added more windows to the van. Now you can see in every direction! For the absolutely most trick option they have added now to their van is the addition of Port-a-Potties, for those times when you are travelling, and there are no restrooms or rest stops available. You know how kids can get. Aways asking if you are there yet and that they need to got to the rest room. Now there are no worries. Just stop by the side of the road, and hello blue liquid!

Believability Factor: 90%!. Although this is a white bus just the one the Kramers have, there are several things that would lead one to think that this does not belong to them. First of all, There is a Salida de Emergencia on this bus. Why would the Kramers need an emergency exit, and why would they need the sign in Spanish? Secondly, the bus seemed to be full of Mexicans dressed for Field work, and very few of the Kramers are actually Mexicans. Lastly, this bus is way too small for the Kramers. It only has a capacity of 42 people.

Well, here we thought we had sighted them, but alas, this one was too small. We were pretty darn close!

Tune in again soon for another edition of...

KRAMER

SIGHTING!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Margaret!

Happy Birthday, Margaret!

Congratulations on reaching your first Birthday!

May you have lots of cake, presents you can chew on, and peaceful nights.

We can't be there for your birthday, but here is a virtual cake just for you (and several others)!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Your Henry Picture Of The Day! (YHPOTD!) December 5th

Time to introduce the world to a temporary visitor to the Mendoza house, Mr. Henry Ulysses Kramer de Mendoza the Third. There was no Henry Kramer de Mendoza the First or Second, but like checks, we decided on a higher number to lend more credibility.

So here he is, Henry!!!

Henry (known for about an hour way back in July as Superdude), is a Guinea Pig born in the outskirts of Göttingen, Germany. He was the heir to a vast fortune his family made in peanut butter mining. However the fortune was lost when his Uncle Frisky speculated in Llama futures, as Llamas are not popular in Germany.

As a young Guinea Pig, he moved to New Mexico to start a new life, but he wandered onto a nuclear testing ground and was caught in an atomic blast. Instead of being killed, he developed super sonic squeaking powers and was for a time Spiderman's arch-Nemesis, Guinea-man.

Through a chain of unlikely events, Henry lost his superpowers and settled down as the mild-mannered pet of the Kramer Family. Sadly, his fur did not agree with the oldest Kramer child's health. And so he was handed off to the Mendozas, with whom he resides today. He is fairly happy in his new home, but wishes they would stop trying to touch him, and that they would give him more carrots.

Come back soon for more pictures of Henry! And possibly a rare interview with the reclusive rodent.

What Really happened At That White House Dinner...

HT to Father Z!

Ulysses sighting of the week! December 5th, 2009

We bring you here a sighting of our intrepid traveller, Ulysses Zamora. He is on his way to the East Coast right now, but he was just sighted in Chekotah, Oklahoma. Let's take a look...

Well, it is a Red Vehicle, just like Ulysses' Truck...

Believability Rating: 10%. Although it is a Red Vehicle, it is the wrong Make and Model. It also appears to be too warm, and the weather this week in Oklahoma has been pretty cold. Members of this Family also appear to be in this picture, and no Mendoza from this Family has been in Oklahoma since the Mom visited Hugo, Oklahoma in 2007 (Long story. Texans are involved). No music was being blasted from the vehicle, either. If you look carefully, the Man to the right of the vehicle seems to have lighter skin tha Ulysses. He is also holding on to the hand of a little boy. There also seems to be a lady with a baby to the left, and we all know that Ulysses is a bachelor. She doesn't seem to be his type. She looks all stuck up and pretty stiff, if you ask us. The guy also is sporting a baseball, and we all know that no cap has ever been on the head of this particular Naval Officer. The People also appear to be made of Lego Bricks.

Well, this one turned out to be a bust. However, tune in again next week for another edition of...

(insert echo-y voice here)

ULYSSES!!!

SIGHTING!!!

OF!!!

THE !!!

WEEK!!!

Legoland!

Previously, on '24'...

Er... actually, last time we were in San Diego. Now we come to the real reason why we went to San Diego, and that is Legoland! Yes, an entire theme park devoted to those little bricks, and it was a blast! It is a bit pricey at about 65 dollars for adults, and 55 dollars for kids, but here is where homechooling truly pays off. You can go for 21 dollars a person if you home school (17 when we went), and for 25 a person if you want to go to their new Aquarium. The Aquarium was not open yet when we went, but so what? It was really fun. There was almost as many Legos here at Legoland than in some people's house that I have been in.

The entrance to Legoland.

We were there before the park even opened. Lovely San Diego weather. It even sprinkled a bit while we were there.

Here we get the tickets. No, there was not a Golden one in the lot.

The signs for the restrooms were pretty funny.

Hey, a life-sized R2-D2!

This picture came out a bit distorted, Nicholas really liked the Darth Vader. Yup, all made out of Legos.

They had a little Jungle cruise with quite a few animals made out of, you guessed it, Legos.

Nicholas was eaten by a Lion.

Nicholas tried the Volvo Driving Track, and he got a License as well.

Ah, now we come to one of the more memorable moments at Legoland. This was a Song and Dance troupe that taught kids about Fire Safety.

They were pretty athletic, because the entire Fire Truck spun around, and they would climb on the ladder and dangle off of it.

Why were they memorable? The Chorus to one of the songs they sang was, "Keep the Wet Stuff on the Hot Stuff." Good advice any time.

THE highlight of Legoland. Millions of bricks are used to recreate famous American and world landmarks. Here is the New Orleans section of Miniland.

Mardi Gras in brick! Actually, New Orleans is not very accurate as no corrupt politicians could be found. We will have to look more extensively through our pictures for the Lego St. Louis Cathedral. When it was being built, we happened to see some pictures of the Lego Cathedral, and apparently they were using old pictures of it. Quite a few of the Lego recreations have the interiors recreated as well, and the Lego people happened to recreate the Interior of St. Louis Cathedral as well as it would have looked like before 1970, meaning that they made a High Altar and everything was Ad Orientem. It cannot be seen as the Cathedral is roofed, but I truly appreciate the effort put into it.

A Lego Mission. Mini Figures of Fathers Milich and Fitz-Henry would be really cool!

The Hollywood Bowl. There are more than 15.000 Mini Figures in Miniland.

Lego San Francisco. Here is the entrance to Chinatown. Chinatown has the smallest figure in the park, a duck hanging in a window made of four bricks. We couldn't find it.

The famous row of houses on Alamo Square.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

One would think that this would be a boring part, just looking at Lego Bricks, but it really was pretty neat.

The Embarcadero in San Francisco. No U2 in sight.

The Capitol of the United States. Again, very inaccurate as no corrupt politicians were in sight.

Georgetown is recreated here along with the B&O Canal.

The United States Marine Corps Memorial.

Another view of the memorial.

The Washington Monument.

The Lincoln Memorial.

The Smithsonian.

This was on the Water cruise that they have, Mount Rushmore. No Jimmy Stewart in sight, or Marin Landau at the bottom.

Lego New York City. Also inaccurate, as you could not smell any urine-soaked air.

The Taj Mahal.

The Sydney Opera House.

Lego Florida, which was basically Daytona Beach and the famous Speedway there.

Ah, yes, look at all those Mini Figures! Almost as many as what comes with the Death Star.

We were there the entire day, from opening to closing. Here they are posing with the souvenirs that came from one of the approximately 600 gift shops. They had Lego sets there that are not sold in stores, so that was pretty cool. The food was nice too, and not too outrageous for being a theme park. We had Pizza at the Ristorante Brickolini!

All in all, a very nice time.

What?

There is one section of Miniland missing?

Tune in tomorrow for a shocking expose!