How do you cope?

The week keeps getting more complicated. The washing machine will be fixed today, so I can finally get my laundry done. More family friends keep ending up with medical problems. Have 2 in a nursing home because their families can not assist, one in the hospital that doesn't want to follow doctor's orders. Tonight are the two wakes/memorial services (of course, at opposite ends of the city). Have a vestry meeting on Wednesday and possibly meet with the Jonnies. Thursday is the Winter Party Wine tasting at Pacific Time on Lincoln Road. Friday have to practice my workshop for Saturday. Saturday I have to do the story telling workshop for the elementary aged kids at the Diocesan Acolyte Festival followed by the Wine Tasting Party that the 40's girls are having in the evening. ...and work wise, I am getting my resume ready (none of my stuff was done while I was gone and there was no one to back me up). We all get along, but time for a change....

Sometimes it is difficult to stay focused when others are in need, but I still have to remember if I do not take care of myself I will be of no use to myself, family or anyone else.

Just a quick update

Well....it's been busy since I've been back. Will do my London posting later in the week when I have a little more time. Been busy getting caught up at work, especially since only a minimal amount of my stuff got done. At home, the new washing machine is on the fritz and the power went out again in the neighborhood. The weekend has been odd. Have multiple family friends and friends dealing with medical issues and have 2 wakes this week. One for the father of a church member and the other for a very gracious lady, Vernika Silva. I did go out on Friday, met some girls celebrating a 4oth that stopped by Twist for a bit, then headed to Martini Bar to meet up with my sis and the other girls. Again, somoe of the boys need to know that a martini is not a "pussy drink"....well, they were young and still have sophistication to learn. I made extra points with the bartender and girls there though. Had the first 5k run today. Glad the weather was nice. Hope everyone else is staying healthy and warm (for those in the snowy regions). Peace!

Travelling becomes me!

I'm just back from my trip to the UK. Was not able to meet up with the Scarlet Pimpernel. He got caught up in the backlog of travel that occurred that Saturday, but I'm sure I will see him when he comes to Miami.

I will be posting some pictures after I've sorted out the 300+ I took over the last few days. I had an excellent time. The weather was unusually warm for this time of year and there was minimal rain. I actually saw the sun!

I was told by an observer/friend a few weeks ago that he admired how I fit in and get along well with different groups of people. That certainly was that case during my visit to the UK. Everywhere I went I was able to meet people, enjoy conversation, get good tips on where to go, etc. Some thought that I was living there now (guess it was part of my OCD/ADD combo about knowing where I am and getting around). Well, I also do not do the ugly American thing when I travel. I did not eat at one McDonalds, Pizza Hut or Friday's ( I refused!).

Was greeted home with my sis with congestion, a power outage and a bare fridge, Going to take a day or two to get caught up, back into the swing of things and put things back in order at home and work. Until later....

Cheers!

L L L L L London!

Hey All! Am off to London. Will be staying at the Strand Palace. Looking forward to it. Will be meeting up with the Scarlet Pimpernel on Saturday. I'm sure it is going to be great.

Thanks guys for the great Valentines, pre-birthday evening. Also, thanks Stanley...the remedy worked and I have my voice back.

I most likely will not be posting until I get back. For those in Miami, this weekend is the Boat Show and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival and the WEAM Museum has an an exhibit of Josephine Baker portraits. Everyone have a great weekend!

Will come back with plenty of pictures. Cheers!

No Funeral for Cupid Today!!

I try to consider myself an optimist. I still believe that love does exist and relationships can happen. So, in that light, I wish all my family and friends, those in love, looking for love or just coasting on the side of being cynical or indifferent a Happy Valentine’s Day! Enjoy all those people around you that care and show you by their actions that they do.

Some friends and I sometimes have a Valentine's Day tradition that we call "Funeral for Cupid". We gather together wearing at least something in the color red, have a good meal with something red in it, some fun and then burn little cut outs of Cupid and bury the ashes. It's not an evil thing. The idea is that love would then grow for the next year.

My parents both graduated from Ponce High School in Ponce, Puerto Rico. They courted for awhile and were married for 42 years.

Smile! Enjoy! Have a great day full of friensship and love!

....and if you see that chubby little kid with the arrows.....

A PR Redneck

Captain Jeremy keeps telling me I'm the first Puerto Rican redneck he's ever met. It is very funny to both of us. It is not meant as an insult and we do have a good laugh about it. It comes around because I do wear boots and jeans often. I do own 6 cowboy hats. Even my younger sister comments about it. She does not particularly like Western wear. In my defense, I can dress appropriately for any occasion.

My grandfather on my Mom's side, Bautista Munoz, did ride horses and assisted with sugar cane fields in Puerto Rico. So, there is some tradition there. The picture was taken in Magueyes, Ponce, Puerto Rico in April of 1943.

Theeeeese Women!

It's the weekend and have spent it getting caught up with work stuff, home stuff, and preparing for my upcoming trip. (Didn't know I had so much dry cleaning and laundry to do.) I have been in a crappy mood the last few days, but part was my own making.

Soooo! Friday, I had a long day of work, passed by Twist for a minute. Was going to do a costume change and go to Palace for Gerladine's Birthday, but instead, had my own private pity party of one at home with laundry/movie night. Irma needed extra attention that evening (ok now) and Mom was exhausted. I will make it up to Geraldine and Fernan D. Cute on Monday.

Funny thing: My mom was confused and upset about "Anna Nicole Kidman". "I liked her and she was so pretty!", she said. I corrected her and and she was glad to know that Tom Cruise's ex was still around.

Saturday, I did work all day from home and in the evening I was taken out for my official pre-birthday birthday by my girls. I sometimes call them "Theeeeeeese Women!". (I define them as the women in a man's life that know you too well and can irk you to no end, but you still love them and have in your life. They can be actual family or adopted family, but you are all connected...and in my case they are all straight.)

It is a surprise when you have four Latin's actually get together and be on time. We met at Little A's house, chatted and then went to "Trattoria d'Solel". The place was full. We had reservations, so the couples waiting for tables were not happy when we walked in and were seated right away (a hint to those who want good seating....make reservations, be on time, patient, and smile). The service was excellent and food was well prepared and served immediately. Our table conversation ranged from "Virginity Balls" (I will leave it to your imagination) and sex to teaching, raising kids, travel, math, how we all met, wines, what age we are going to fake, how to host a good party and going "commando". A full meal, varied deserts, wine and coffee later, we decided to walk and play it by ear.

Next part: We walked down Sunset Drive and criticized every shop along the way. These ranged from upscale children's stores ($50.00 for a bib!!!) to antique stores with jewelry so gaudy that even this Puerto Rican thought was too much. (If a Puerto Rican thinks it is too much, that means you regular folks can decorate your whole home for Christmas with one strand of it.) I did purchase some "cocktail muddler's" for the Palace Boys. (The straight boys confused them for erotic objects.)

The best display was a men's store with cadaver mannequins that had died of love. No, I did not take a pictue in front. I did think it was a funny display. I include the picture here to prove it. I have a special posting for Valentine's Day and I still believe in love and relationships.

We then ended up at "Martini Bar". The high heeled, well dressed, big booty/chested women, straight men, everybody dance mecca of South Miami. We called some more friends who showed up within a 1/2 hour.

I had a blast confusing my sis's and her friend's men friends. Next hint: A Greygoose, strait up with a lime, martini is not a sissy drink (What was James Bond's beverage?). It is not to be chugged. My manners and smile got me a long way. One of the boys offered me a shot (a Triple Threat). I did it without a blink and kept chatting. He looked at me and said "It's gonna hit you in 1/2 hour". I told him " I'm the grandfather of this group, that shot was nothing new." I then offered him a shot of my choice and he refused and walked away....

The best, I think, was when I assisted a lady dancer to her post and she thanked me and smiled and then the lady bartender thanked me for my service (Hey! Straight people, actually, all people! Tip your servers! $1.00 for 5 drinks is not a tip!). The boys (who are regulars and know my girls) had, to my observation, never even gotten that far with them.

Part of meeting the boys is that they are the one's that hang out with my girls. I have decided first impressions of them....approval is still pending. They are all on probation with me right now, but I can still out do/think them. FYI: The oldest of the boys was at least 10 yrs younger than me.

We danced to music from old school and rock to salsa and rap. I was relaxed, hung out and had good conversation...I collected my gifts and was taken home. I am now ready for the next week and I am smiling again..... all thanks to "Theeeeeese Women!"

Come in from the cold.

View from my cousin's house in Brookfield, Wisconsin

They are coming for Easter and can not wait to hit the beach.

These pictures show the reason Florida is full during the winter.....well, along with the special events, nightlife and diversity of people. If you live in Florida, there is always a family member or a friend that will want to come to visit.

Some people really do love the snow and the winter, but some others have grown tired of it. They love to send their friends pictures of themselves on the beach in the middle of February.

We do like our tourists down here, but sometimes appreciate when (some of them, not all) they go home. I do suggest, if you visit, to be open to the different cultures and idiosyncrasies of Florida that always makes it a fun State to live in. There is always some off beat story that will have you calling home.

If you are coming down to visit...Welcome! If you are coming down to live .....Welcome! If you are just passing through....Welcome! Enjoy!

Lenten Message

A message from Presiding Bishop

Katharine Jefferts Schori

In this season: 'Christ in the stranger's guise'


As the primates of the Anglican Communion prepare to gather next week in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I ask your prayers for all of us, and for our time together. I especially ask you to remember the mission that is our reason for being as the Anglican Communion –- God's mission to heal this broken world. The primates gather for fellowship, study, and conversation at these meetings, begun less than thirty years ago. The ability to know each other and understand our various contexts is the foundation of shared mission. We cannot easily be partners with strangers.

That meeting ends just as Lent begins, and as we approach this season, I would suggest three particularly appropriate attitudes. Traditionally the season has been one in which candidates prepared for baptism through prayer, fasting, and acts of mercy.

This year, we might all constructively pray for greater awareness and understanding of the strangers around us, particularly those strangers whom we are not yet ready or able to call friends. That awareness can only come with our own greater investment in discovering the image of God in those strangers. It will require an attitude of humility, recognizing that we can not possibly know the fullness of God if we are unable to recognize his hand at work in unlikely persons or contexts. We might constructively fast from a desire to make assumptions about the motives of those strangers not yet become friends. And finally, we might constructively focus our passions on those in whom Christ is most evident –- the suffering, those on the margins, the forgotten, ignored, and overlooked of our world. And as we seek to serve that suffering servant made evident in our midst, we might reflect on what Jesus himself called us --friends (John 15:15).

Celtic Rune of Hospitality

I saw a stranger yesterday;
I put food in the eating place,
drink in the drinking place,
music in the listening place;
and in the sacred name of the Triune God
he blessed myself and my house,
my cattle and my dear ones,
and the lark said in her song:
Oft, Oft, Oft,
goes Christ in the stranger's guise.

Shalom,
Katharine

...Time to follow my own advice...

I tell people to be careful about what they say in anger because once it's out there you can not take it back. Never vent in a public forum. That happened to me. It was also part of my dealing with being deeply hurt. (I have never been able to handle being ignored either.) I guess I was looking for some kind of reaction (which I did get...some good and some not so good). ...Sometimes an apology or retraction is too late or not enough. I still have unanswered questions, but guess will live with never getting the answers. I will also have to live with the consequences and still be able to coexist without having any contact with some people. Going to be difficult to have anything to smile about for awhile.

There are many reasons silence is golden.

Don't Drink and Blog

Enough said for today.....

The Wave of Aquarius!

Stephanie and Me

Many Aquarian Birthdays coming up or just passed. I have been running into many of them and some are already good friends and some are new friends. My favorite Water Bearer amigos have "The Age of Aquarius" from Hair as my ringtone for them.

Of course, I am an Aquarian.

I would like wish my brothers and sisters

"A Happy Aquarius Birthday!!!"

Just to name a few:

ME!!!!

Vashti

Stephanie

Ms. Geraldine

Fernan D. Cute

(FYI: Red Carpet Party B-Day Party @ Laundry Bar on 2/12/2007)

Henry

Eduardo

Rev. Doug

Sandy S.

Mark V.

B & T Mark

David

The German Twins (Party for them @Palace on 2/7/2007)

Carmen

Rosita

Noel

Will

Luis B.

Jimmy

(Apologize if a missed your name, let me know and I will add it)

Note: Thank you, Countesses and Alexis for a cordial evening, Dr. Brad for a great conversation, and Ditmar for the surprising evening

of retail therapy and dancing (enjoy the days off).

Tiaras at the Palace and more....

"Tiaras at the Palace" was a wonderful event this last Saturday. It was hosted by the legendary Countess du Barry of Newport. All in attendance were given hand made tiaras. The setting was true to du Barry's attention to detail. There were gold embossed napkins and plates with a tiara and du Barry's seal. The food was served on silver platters.

There were many highlights to the day. A great moment was the Parade of Tiaras from the back room of the Palace out into the street. It was Superbowl weekend and the party guests were received by applause and paparazzi. It's good to know that everyone can have a festive time and enjoy the company of good people.

Yes, I did go with the Western wear. I did receive compliments. I will heed Mr. Riley's advice for a bit and "not do the Howdy Doody thing again" (well, only if it's called for... most of you know that I like to wear boots and jeans.)

There was a little drama at the end of the evening when two of the coveted items were stolen. A note to the unwanted thieves: We have pictures of the tiaras and know who were the guests, so BEWARE!

If you would like to read more or see more pics, check out "the" Mrs. Astors blog.

http://themrsastor.blogspot.com

Hmm, I don't see my shadow...

Happy Ground Hog Day! Short blog today. Been an eventful winter so, I'm not staying in my hole (no snickering, please) any longer. The sun is bright, the day is beautiful. Keeping up with the positive and ignoring or getting rid of the insignificant and negative. Time for some retail therapy...CHARGE IT!!!

Thank you, guys and girls, that are keeping me on track and give me a dose of reality and perspective when I need it. It's always good to see things from a different light and it is much appreciated.