Walk MS: Cruisin' For a Cause!

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day for a walk; the sky was cloudless and blue, the air cool, the sun toasty. Time to put on my sneakers, stuff those donations in an envelope, and walk for a cure! This was the Walk's first time in Viera, and it seemed to go off without a hitch!

 

 I'm so anal about being early for things like this. Deb and I got there before registration was even open, but folks started flowing in and the crowd grew quickly! There were a number of vendors, and even a silent auction (there was a Jameson bean-bag-toss-corn-hole-thing there, and I forgot to bid on it! Duh!)

 

Registration volunteers hard at work. Since it's St. Pat's weekend, the theme was lots o' green!

 

Here we are, TEAM PAO CRUISERS FOR A CAUSE, nearly 30 of us!

 Our top fundraisers on the right, Robyn and Michelle, with Robyn's family ☺

 

  A couple of us T'ville gals! The jackets were starting to come off, and we hadn't even started walking yet.

 Waiting to go...let's get this party started!

 

 And we're OFF!

 

 A sea of yellow; there were some large teams there, but I really think we were the biggest!

 

 I love this pic because you can see how far the walkers stretch back, and we were by no means at the front of the line! That's a lotta money bein' raised!

 

 We made it! 1.5 miles doesn't sound like a tremendous distance, but it was enough to start the day! This was most of us in the sweaty "after" photo ;)

 

I ♥ this picture, because Deb and I got photo-bombed! The "bombers" made no apologies, they just laughed and kept on going!

 

The official 2013 MS shirt. The completion medal. A lovely, handmade bracelet that I purchased from a generous woman who donates all proceeds to the MS Society. Every step really matters. Every dollar really counts. Thank you again to my generous family and friends, who contributed $650 for that 1.5 mile walk; Team PAO raised $1,305 in online donations alone. Still working and hoping for a cure, for Tom and hundreds of thousands of folks, all praying for that cure in their lifetime ♥

Ethnic Sunday! (Caution: Graphic images ;)

St. Teresa's "Ethnic Picnic Sunday" is relatively new (4 years now, I think), but has a devoted following; the criteria is this: show your heritage and celebrate it with FOOD! As Catholics, we are a multi-cultural and diverse family of believers, and this our day to share the love!

 

1 Corinthians & also Romans. Love me some St. Paul! (If I were a boy, Paul would be my confirmation name; he speaks right to my heart ♥) 

Ok, hang on, this next pic is graphic...

 

Our Filipino friends brought lechon (roast pig!) I was in awe, but we'll get to that in a bit.

A Spanish-speaking-only parishioner brought this lovely arroz con leche (this is the "after" photo); she was trying to get me to help her set up the pans, but this lil chick no hablo español. Luckily, Jesus Rodriguez stopped in and was able to help me get the gist of it! (btw, it was fabulous!)

Yeah, I tried these, too. Fantastic! Sweet and so flavorful! (I remembered them from last year ;)

Honest-to-goodness tabouleh. Yep, it was awesome, too!

Sr. Kathleen & Sr. Hilda made Irish scones. I had one half with butter, and the other half with jam!

REAL Polish perogie(s)! We made sure Fr. Chris & Fr. Gabriel had at least one on their plate! Sadly, I did not partake of these beauties. I was gettin' full!

Actual Swedish meatballs? Yep, and they smelled heavenly :)

Sandy Carbone's Cuban chicken and yellow rice. I squeezed in a few bites after the rest settled! Burp. It was SO worth it! (can ya tell I lean toward the starches?!)

This was a cold saurkraut salad that looked yummy. (I'm thinkin' natural gas was plentiful yesterday...) 

 

Plantains! Mmmm, mmmm!

Close your eyes, here come the graphic images...

 

The guest of honor!

 

The gentleman who stuffed and roasted/cooked him lived in Orlando, and had him cooking since 4 am; succulent Pygmalion arrived hot and smelling fabulous!

These fellas knew what they were doing; they had him chopped and served in minutes flat! The meat was gingery, moist and delicious. I can see why this is the Phillipines' signature dish! 

(And I was told the green stuff in the pan was a sweet, rice dish)

This. Was. To. Die. For. Pancit, which is the term for noodles, in Filipino cuisine. Everything about it was delicious, including the red, sweet slivers of "ham" (that's what they told me it was, and I'm stickin' to it)

 

Thirty minutes after the first hungry picnic-ers arrived, there was still a line of folks waiting to get in!

 

Tables filled with friends and food!

Love the flags ♥

I love Fr. Gabriel's smile in this one; Fr. Chris was making sure I got the St. T student's Polish flag in the picture!

This is the 'Fr. Chris smile' that we love! God bless Polska!

 

I watched the flag presentation at the beginning of Mass for the first time yesterday, and could honestly feel the pride from each representative as they carried the flag of their family's heritage.

The lights had already been turned off when I took this picture, but the beautiful symbolism still shined.

And Dia Éire! 

 

 

  

Home Improvement! (not the Tim Allen Show, either)

While everyone else is making New Year's Resolutions, Jack and I are busy planning New Year's Renovations. It happens every January...we get the home remodeling bug! The bug seems to come from too many cold evenings in front of the tv watching Rehab Addict, Love It or List It, House Hunters, Property Brothers...you get the picture; we get addicted! Some projects are small, while others are more extensive and pricey. This year's job was small; a simple coat of fresh paint in Lindsay's old room. That's it. But I really wanted a new color, which involved a new color scheme as far as decorations went. And, since the blinds were SOOOO old, they needed replaced as well. Hmmm, things are about to get a little more complicated...

 

  I posted a poll on Facebook to choose the new room color. "Sparrow" won, and here it is! (that's "Balsam Beige" that we're covering) And those nasty blinds on the bed? I've honestly never been happier to have something go to the dump! I hated those things!

 Next up was the accent wall, "Cracked Pepper"! Aren't we brave?! (we actually were more afraid, but it turned out great!)

See, I'm working, too, not just taking pictures! I'm the "trimmer" and the bathroom painter. I painted a Cracked Pepper accent wall in there, too! So as not to bore you silly with more snapshots of us painting, here's the finished product:

 TA DAAAA!!!! We are so happy with how it turned out! We're still on the hunt for a few decorative pieces to totally finish it, but for the most part, we're done!

 

The framed black and whites are my photos from places I've visited; these three are: Westminster Abbey & Big Ben in London, and a home on Meeting Street in Charleston. ☺

This night table was a find at St. Teresa's yard sale two weeks ago. I spray painted it white (still have to put some black trim around the drawer edges and sides) and just love it ♥ The lamps were $1 each. Kinda. Jack re-wired and put new switches in them, and I bought new shades. So they were $20 each. But the base is marble (justification), and I love them, too! The chalkboard reads "Enjoy your stay"!

A 50¢ find at the yard sale. Errr, kinda, again. The satin black spray paint was $4.88. But I love this, too!

Ok, moving on...Since the "new room" was going to look so nice, we decided to tackle a bigger project that we had been talking about for years... 

 

This whole curtain-patio-door-thing never really worked for us. The curtains never closed right, and it was dark, but we didn't know what else to do.

The aluminum doors were original to the house, and when the wind blew, you could feel it come right through every gaping crack along the frame. The summer heat poured right in, too!

 

Gone! We had been looking forward to this for 13 years!!! 

♪♪Alleluia! ♪♪

Jack admiring the new, solid, non-leaky frame!

 

And what's even better?! Mini blinds in between the glass! NO MORE CURTAINS!

 

A fresh coat of paint on the walls, and this room will be finito as well. Yep, we love this door! (I know it's not right, but we apparently love a lot of inanimate things)

 

This...is a new door as well, on the side of the house. (it doesn't look like much, but it was as spendy as the beautiful doors in the living room) The old one was literally crumbling, and this new fiberglass one makes Jack very happy.

So there ya have it. Btw, don't ask us to go out for dinner for a while. Or for drinks. Or buy raffle tickets. Or go in on a timeshare. You get it. Sigh.

Darn you, Rehab Addict! ;)