The end of January....

Today is the last day of January. I haven't had a day where I could do nothing. So that's what I did today...more or less, nothing. Ok, I did make the bed, get washed up, dressed and then I was on the computer doing fun things. I downloaded the template for the February calendar from Heather Roselli and made one for myself, my brother and my daughters! I have been making these each month and use them as screen savers, it impresses people when they see them on my desktop! I've learned to add in captions for important dates too! I still haven't been able to spend time digital scrapbooking, but Heather makes these easy and you just add your pictures. I didn't even have to look at the video tutorial this time to do them! I then read my email. Made my Weemee. I have one for AIM that is cuter, on that one you can use makeup there is a little button to click for "covergirl" too cute! (www.weeworld.com) it's free! I figured out how to get it on the blog also! Then I'm downloading pictures of Greece and Israel to Shutterfly for my travel buddies. Since I have "vista" it causes some problems with compatibility with older versions of windows so I'm trying to avoid that. Then I've caught up with recorded shows I've missed. No homework, no reading of assignments, nothing work related (that place has been an issue lately .... nurses = $$$$ signs ..... when management has poor planning guess who pays? The NURSE!) Okay, so the cats kept me company....oh, I did do laundry! Tomorrow is another day, another month, another start. Goodbye January!

January Birthdays....

We have just celebrated New Year's and now it is time to start celebrating the January birthdays. Natalie is 25 today. Where has the time gone. It seems like yesterday that this precious little dark haired dolly was born. The years rolled past with her growing independent and having her own sense of style. The years continued on as she searched to be her own person separate from her mom and dad and then there was graduation and off to college....and here we are today. The whole family was gathered again, which is always a wonderful thing. Caitlin's birthday is on the 30th and not knowing if I'll be able to get up to Gainesville, we celebrated her birthday. She has been a joy from the very beginning, an easy child not to say that all went easy for her. She is the peacemaker, the organizer, and the one that keeps us with a smile with her mishaps and tongue twisters. She will be 20, so long to the teenage years, that never were ugly or mean spirited. Today we celebrate two beautiful young women, with the whole world ahead of them, the possibilities of education, travel, adventure, are endless. The love of a mom and dad are endless, the pride and joy, overflowing. Happy Birthday!!!

Scooter....

Look what the kids brought home! Some days go along so quietly and then wham...something unexpected happens. We've had cats before. Caitlin snuck the fluffball Madison home. She was a sickly ferrell (wild) cat that we spent money on to get better. She went up to Gainseville this year, with Caitlin. Caitlin had to give her to a friend because she couldn't keep the cat in her apartment, she has kitty visits though. Well, about a year ago this time last year Natalie was looking for a "kitty" and a doctor at work had a cat that had a litter of kittens and was ready to adopt them out. We went to LOOK at them and brought three of them home! Natalie took two tabby's (Daisy and Dixie) and Callie took the black one named Marcie. Madison was here at that time and just didn't take the invasion very well at all. So this past weekend all was going well. Natalie came home to visit with her kitties and Paul was at the warehouse and this is what came home! A yellow male tabby. He's really little and looked dirty and sickly. Here he is a few days later.... he's helping me with my homework! He's well behaved, the other cats seem to be getting used to him, except for Marcie, but she's put out because her sisters are here and take over the place when ever they visit! So I guess we have a new addition to the family.

A day of fun....

Ground Zero Quilt

It was a good day today. I had plans with my friend Lisa. I haven't seen her in 3 weeks I think! Time flies. Our work schedules are way off, I'm not crazy about that. It was more fun when we had some days off together to plan something fun. So today was the day. We met a Panera (where else) and had breakfast, got caught up on everything. She had a Christmas gift for me, I had a few things from my travels for her. Surprises are fun! Then we headed off to the Quilt show. It was $7.00 to get in! That increased. Inside though, there were a lot of quilts. Lisa knew one of the women that go several ribbons! Such talent. The Ground Zero quilt (I saw Ground Zero when I was in New York City) is a quilt that travels all around the country, maybe even to other countries. The pieces are pictures of each person that died at Ground Zero. The pictures had been transferred to fabric. There were bright quilts, not so bright, very detailed, funny, big, tiny, postcard, all kinds of quilts. There were of course vendors. Now I have to say, I did quite well, I only spent $1.50. Okay $4.50 if you count the roasted almonds! I bought a little wooden thingamabob that will hold the big spools of thread on my featherweight sewing machine. We spent hours looking around. Lisa got a really cute kit for a knitted purse that gets washed and ends up felted and a nifty roll-up type carrier that will keep the applique pieces that are being worked on nice and tidy. We've learned that it is much cheaper to purchase it made than to go through the hassle of purchasing all the items to make it and then find the time to make it and end up with another unfinished project to be set aside in some corner of a room in a basket never to be seen again accept for when you're hunting for something! We saw the girls from the Quilt store, they were very busy! Then it was time to go. I got a few thing
s done on the computer, did some homework.....(not so fun).

Yes this is a quilt too! Lisa and I swear we know her......

Getting back in to reality.....

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Make a photobook - it's easy!

It really takes some time to get back in do a routine once it has been broken. Today I started getting back into a routine. I worked out, went grocery shopping, did homework, and got to play a little bit with the pictures. I completed a Smilebox of Greece and will work on one for Israel. It is hard to believe that I was actually there, yet the pictures have me there in front of some of the more awesome places! Now to think about another adventure!!!

I'm home!

January 7th, 2008

After 25+ hours I made it home and it is a new day! The pilot from Jet Blue was wonderful and has a great sense of humor! The luggage was out quickly and Manuel and Callie were there to greet me! It was great to hand off the carry on items. I'm beat, a hot shower and bed would be wonderful! The sharing of the adventure begins. Expressing the awesome ancient ruins is one thing, but explaining the blessed Holy Land is another! Soon I'm in the car and on my way home, showered, shampooed, and ready for bed. I was asleep quickly and I was told (which I don't for one minute believe) that I was snoring and wouldn't move! Okay, I was exhausated and in a dead sleep! :-) Today begins the back to reality! Bills to be paid, laundry, and homework, ahhhh the homework :-( Soon I'll get to go through the pictures and relive the happy days and memories. It's good to be home.

Leaving Greece......

One of the Palace Guards, they have to stand and not move or talk until there is a changing of the Guard which is every hour and yes he is wearing tights with tassles at the knees!

January 6, 2008

Today the wake up call was for 6am. It's 11pm yesterday back home! Luggage outside the room by 6:30 and by 7am I was having breakfast. Not long after that I was drinking my coffee and I feel a bit of movement. The yellow rose in the vase on the table started to move. I continued eating breakfast and then the movement got much more intense and so I looked up to see the lights hanging from the ceiling swinging....an earthquake! The good Lord has had us experience everything! It was then time to get to the bus and head to the airport....this will be a long day of travel. This has been a journey of a lifetime.....

Delphi

January 5, 2007

Today we take a three hour ride to Delphi (I believed pronounced Delphee). This is the home of Apollo. Delphi in ancient times was considered the center of the earth or the belly button. You have to remember, that way back then they thought the world was flat and not very big. It is also believed that it is where heaven and earth meet. Delphi is mythology means a meeting place of two eagles that were released by Zeus! Apollo who was the son of Zeus is believed to have been an oracle. The theater was also built in the 4th century which had 35 rows and seated 5000 and further above is the large stadium the original was built in 6 BC and 6500 could fit here, which was famous for its chariot races, renovated by Herod Atticus and considered the be best preserved in all of Greece. There are treasuries here, a Temple of Pronaia Athenait which is a round temple. Some of us walked up to stadium that was a cardiac work out. One of the other things that happened here was on the top of the mountain people were punished to death and pushed from the mountain. The most well known to have died was Esop from the fables. In is fables the people of Delphi thought they were being made fun of!

Back to Greece

January 4, 2008

We we were up and out of the Hotel by 2:00am! Yes, the times are just wonderful! We got through the security at the airport which was very busy and flew back to Greece. We're meet with our our guide Alecci! She is very sweet. We are off to Corinth or Korinthos which is about 48 miles west of Athens. This is where the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians. It makes sense once you understand the society that was here during that time. Mostly they were artisans and are famous for their black pottery which pictures plants, animals, shapes, just not people. They are also famous for textiles and bronze ornaments. The temple to Apollo that is now in ruins was built in 550 B.C. Up on the mountain (Acrocorinth) are ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite, of which little remains. The Temple of Aphrodite had more than 1,000 sacred prostitutes at one time, exemplifying the ancient city's reputation for luxury and vice. These girls had "follow me" on the bottom of their sandals! The city of Corinth had a population of over 750,000 which when looking at it doesn't seem large enough to accommodate all these people. We stopped briefly on the shore of Aegean Sea (I think) where it Paul left Corinth. It is windy and overcast. The rocks and stones on the shore are smooth. Oh yes, earlier we stopped at the Corinth Canal, that was impressive. Tomorrow is Delphi!

Old Jerusalem....

January 3, 2008
Jerusalem - the City of Peace. Today we go inside the walls of Old Jerusalem which is divided into 4 sections, Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian. Jean and I have been inside, the group hasn't. We go through security at the Western Wall (we didn't have to do this in the Christian area). We went to the wailing wall(which was originally built as a retaining wall in 19CE - (common error as used by the Jews. BCE and CE we say BC and AD) to support the extensive renovations by Herod the Great. The Jews pray for the Messiah to come. There are caper bushes protruding from parts of the wall, they are crying bushes. This wall is what is left of the Holy Temple. There is a male side and a female side, and the men must have a head covering on before going to pray at the wall. We go to the wall and pray and leave notes in the wall. I believe when the notes fall out they are collected and burned. I have left several notes in the wall - notes of prayers. So here we are at a historical and sacred site and what to we see? Rabbi's with cell phones - talking on them at the wall! We then move on to go to the old temple mount. Just to remind you that there was a temple here, and it was destroyed and they the second temple was built. Jesus was here at the second temple. It was destroyed and the Muslims put up a mosque. It has a gold dome and the marble on either side of the doors to enter oddly looked like mirror images of an evil one! Remember too that the Koran mentions nothing about Jerusalem, however, Jerusalem is mention well over 400 times in the BIBLE! The Koran I believed started out as a Jewish book. Mohammad went to Medina and approached workers about this new book and the pagans accepted it and became muslin, once they did Mohammad went to Mecca and said "make me a prophet". In order to be a prophet you have to be Jewish! Muslims must pray 5 times a day, Fast on the Sabbath, Swear to Ala, give to the poor, go to Mecca once and they must purify before praying. We saw the arches from the Crusaders and we see the Arch of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies((Kodesh Hakodashim), it housed the two tablets of the Ten Commandments the inner sanction of the tabernacle. You can not pray here or make the sign of the cross in this part of Jerusalem(because the Muslims are here)....hmmmmmmm but I'm sure people do have there ways in which to do so.... There is a person here that is on a Hamas hit list we spoke with him, and when he and a group were praying behind us as were getting information from our guide, a big deal was made by a man that came out screaming and security came, and the group broke their circle. I guess this is how wars break out! I believe in Isaiah 56:7 it mentions about a 3rd temple being build. The Golden Gate (gate of eternal life)is impressive. The Muslims have blocked the gate where Jesus is to come back through (if that'll stop him!) The Muslims call this the Mercy Gate, where the just will pass during Judgement Day! It is interesting to see the ways in which people try to stop a power that is far greater than they are. Jaffa Gate faces towards Tel Aviv, Lions Gate(Eastern Gate)has a lion in the facade but is also known as Sheep's Gate because sheep where brought in to the market here.Armed guards are visible here. We walked along the Via Dolorosa. This is where Jesus walked to his Crucifixion. There are 14 stations and they are marked. The first one you really can't see because it is on a wall of a Muslim School. Others have a round tarnished bass marker with a Roman numeral with a markers or carved image. We end at The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (aka the Church of the Resurrection)this is where the Golgotha or Calvary and the tomb of Jesus. We then went to the Jewish section and part of the Armenian section. Later we went to an area in Jerusalem that had a model of how the city looked. Some of us went to take an underground walk at night. Along the outer face of the Herodian western wall of the Temple Mount, a long narrow tunnel was dug slowly under the supervision of archaeologists. As work progressed under the buildings of the present Old City, the tunnel was systematically reinforced with concrete supports. A stretch of the Western Wall — nearly 1,000 ft. long — was revealed in pristine condition, exactly as constructed by Herod. It is impressive! In this confined space, we were walking on the original pavement from the Second Temple period and following in the footsteps of the pilgrims who walked here 2,000 years ago on their way to participate in the rituals on the Temple Mount. Imagine that! At the end of this man-made tunnel, a 65 foot (20 meters) long section of a paved road and an earlier, rock-cut Hasmonean aqueduct leading to the Temple Mount were uncovered. A short new tunnel leads outside to the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter. The parts of the wall from Herods time where over 5 tons and it only took 6 men and several pulleys to put them in to place. Will anything in our current time be able to last that long?

Being touched by the Lord....

January 2nd, 2008
My roommate, Jean, has been on top of things. She did her research before we left, I started college classes and fell apart! The one place that she wanted to go was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is in old Jerusalem where the stations of the cross took place (in other words, the last walk that Jesus took and was nailed to the cross, etc. which I will now have to see the "The Passion of Christ" because this depicts things well). The hardest part to remember seeing these places is that they are very different that when Jesus was here. There have been city built over city and in some case three layers. Constantine the Great for whom Constantinople or Istanbul now was named for. His mother felt is was important to save these precious sites, so churches where built over them to protect them. The Holy Sepulchre is built over the cave (which with modern development is now looks more like a small building with supports) where Jesus was laid to rest and rose again. (Now later I will tell you where the Protestants think Jesus was buried). The good Lord works in odd ways. Our journey begins at 5:00. Our guide, Roni is awesome. He made sure that we got there safely (old Jerusalem is divided into 4 quarters the Jewish, Christian, Armenian and Muslim). We are going to the Christian quarter. He has a drawn a map for us to get out to the taxi's an his phone number if we need anything! The paths are narrow, there are stores on either side, at this time of the morning they are closed. We make our way into the Church, it is massive. The first thing we see is a stone slab with these elaborate time of candles (to ornate for the western world these are more Asian - remember Israel is in Asia). This is the place where Jesus was laid after he was taken of the cross to anoint his body with spices and salt and wrapped before being put into the tomb. We didn't know until we came out that this is what it was. We walked over to where the "cave" is. It is ornately decorated. We kneel and pray. The opening in front of us is very small (people were much smaller then) and we the entered into where the tomb is. It is a tiny area. We kneeled in front of it, our feet touching the wall behind us, there is an alter above used for Mass). The tomb is not to long or wide, stone on the bottom, marble on the top. It was very emotional. Without even knowing it, tears are flowing from our eyes, our hands are folded in prayer and our rosaries are on the tomb. We pray and then, an amazing peace takes over. A priest entered and we left. We kneel again just out side. Mass begins just a couple of people are in with the priest. The Mass is in PORTUGUESE! Thoughts of Mary Magdalene waiting outside of the tomb fill us and we have pain in our legs, we ask for more, and then, the pain leaves. (Neither of us knew what the other was experiencing until later when we talked about it!). We left the tomb, overwhelmed and saddened not to have communion. However, we saw another priest, and I said, "follow him". We did, and we climbed narrow stairs up to where there was an alter and to the left is the cross with a replica of Jesus on it, there are the stones below (this is where Jesus was crusified). Again, this area is decorated most ornately. The Mass begins, again in Portuguese! We have communion. The we went in and knelt before the cross and prayed and touched the rocks. The next priest came in and started Mass (they are about every 1/2 hour in the morning). This time it was in English, the priest was from Boston, no doubt about the accent (Jean and I are from Massachusetts). There are nuns there, they are from Sisters of Charity (Mother Theresa's order) and Jeans daughter is a novice nun with Sisters of Charity. We stayed a while for the service and then had to leave to get back to the hotel. It was unbelievable! We went to Mount of Olives and followed Jesus' path. We start at the Church of Ascension, there is a church with gold domes shaped in teardrops (for the tears of Jesus). The Garden of Gethsemane (this is where Jesus prayed "why have you forsaken me". We went to the Church of Agony, it is very dark in here, it sets a mood (Belushi designed this church also). We walked further down to find how important the Apostle Paul is in getting Christianity going. We later went to Bethlehem. The little town is very poor. We must make sure we as Christians support it, otherwise it'll be taken over and the place where our Lord was born will be destroyed. We went to the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born (remember the church is built over to protect these precious sites). I did get an olive wood nativity set in Bethlehem. We pass through a check point and have our passports inspected. In the evening we went to the diamond factory. They have the best quality diamonds and then send them out all over the world. Okay, I caved in and bought a pair of diamond earrings - they are very dainty. Sarah from Peru the saleslady said that they were a must, it took me forever to decide......
Picture by Roman Kriman http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-holy-sepulchre-pictures/slides/edicule-room1-c-RomKri-js.htm - I didn't get pictures of this, I was too emotional

HAPPY NEW YEAR

January 1, 2008
Can you believe that it is a new year already! Jean, Rosemary, Bill, Charisa, Cheritt, and I welcomed in the New Year on the Dead Sea. Can You believe that the others in the group slept through it? We did get some sleep and then had breakfast before going down to the beach at the Dead Sea. We did get in the water! It was cold, but not as cold as the Jordan River (which I became quite pale in). This was slightly better. The neat thing is, you float! Even on your stomach! You just can't sink. It is very, very salty. You can see the salt on the rocks. It is suppose to be very healing. Once in the water, it was fine. We even took pictures of us floating and reading a magazine! The dead sea is at the earths lowest point at 1300 ft below sea level! The water feels a bit oily and this is because there is magnesium in it! Imagine that, a metal in the water! They are now mining magnesium out of the water because it is a stronger metal and car companies are using it! This is truly a blessed land. We read Psalms 120-132 Song for the ascent into Jerusalem. We went to Masada. This has very special meaning at this site. Masada was built by King Herod (the king we love to hate). He had a palace built here, although he was not here. We read from Ezekiel 23 (?). There was a Jewish community here. They wanted to be free. The Romans have been outside of this fort for quite some time trying to figure out a way to take it over. They ended up building a ramp, and eventually were breaking through the reinforcements that were made. The people inside agreed that that would not leave they wanted to be free. So the families gathering in their homes and the fathers killed their children, the wife/mother laid over her children and the father killed them. The men went to the lottery room and drew numbers and they each went back and laid over their wife and were killed, the last person killed himself. When the Romans came in they saw what had happened. They wanted to win but not like this. There were three women found alive hiding and they shared the story. I can only hope that the Romans showed them mercy and did not do horrible things to them. Therefore when the Israeli armed forces swears in its military it is here and they state the "Masada will never fall again". It is a a touching story. Then we went to the Falls of En Gedi, this is where David hid from Saul. There are beautiful water falls off in the distance. We saw more Ibex (antelope) and acacia trees (these were used to make the ark). The rocks here are dolomite. We traveled on to Qumran National Park - this is the spot where the Dead Sea scrolls where found. They were stored in clay jars with lids and in different areas in the mountains. This is the whole Old Testament except for Ester and one other I can't think of at the moment. They still haven't figured out who wrote them. They are word for word as in the old testament. I have pictures of Jericho in the distance where there is a wall. Jesus stayed here 40 days and 40 nights. We entered into Jerusalem, it is of course, very different from when Jesus was here. We stopped just after we got in the City and our guide had us do what Jewish Tradition was in old times when entering the city - you would get off your donkey (in our case our motor coach) and look around the city (we are high up and lights are all around). Then he did a traditional Hebrew Blessing with wine and crackers (similar to communion) welcoming us into the city saying that is was "our" city to because we felt that it was important enough to come to see it! It was very touching, I don't think any of us had a dry eye.