Three times around the pattern

This morning I met my instructor at the airport at the somewhat early hour of half past six. Once I got the airplane all pre-flighted, we hopped in, started it, and got to taxing. The tower wasn't quite in operation yet, so we taxied over to the only open runway and took off. After my second near flawless landing, the tower came alive and asked me to transition to the other runway as they were going to have a truck driving on the runway we were landing on. After making the transition we did about two touch and go's and I was making my way around for the third one when my instructor said, " Allright let me make the radio calls this time around."

"Ok" I replied with more than a little bit of supspicion.

"Five mike juliet, cleared touch and go one-six left." The radio cackled.

"Five mike juliet would like to make this a full stop landing, I'm going to hop out and then my student is going to do three on his own." my instructor replied. I landed the airplane got to one of the taxiway intersections and my instructor contacted ground control, "Paine Ground cessna two two five mike juliet at golf four, I'm going be hopping out and then my student is going to be taxing back to the runway for touch and go's."

Doesn't sound to terribly hard, does it? I'd done it several times before, only this time there would be noone in the right seat.

"Five mike juliet, taxi to runway one-six left and tell your student good luck". He then hopped out of the airplane and I taxied back to the runway and called up the tower.
"Paine tower cessna two two five mike juliet is ready for departure one-six left, staying in the pattern for touch and go's"

"Five mike juliet cleared for takeoff one-six left, make left close traffic." came the voice over the radio.

"Cleared for takeoff one-six left, make left close traffic five mike juliet" I replied concisely. I taxied out onto the runway, pushed the throttle in and got airborn.

I had made two pretty good landings and was halfway to making my third when the controller came back on the radio.
"Five mike juliet verify you would like to make this a full stop landing"

"I would like to make that a full stop landing for five mike juliet" I replied.

"Five mike juliet cleared to land one-six left" He returned

"Cleared to land one-six left, five mike juliet" came my reply again. After I had landed the controller told me to contact ground control on the frequency 121.8 and added a "good job". I got off the runway, got the aircraft all cleaned up, changed frequencies and made my call.
"Paine ground, cessna two two five mike juliet at golf four, request taxi to central parking."

"Five mike juliet taxi as requested, good job" she replied

I taxied and parked the airplane with a smile on my face that will probably remain here for the rest of today.

Three Cheers for the New Pope!

The cardinal chosen as the new pope has been revealed. It is Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who took the name Benedict XVI. Let us all offer up prayers for him in joy and in thanksgiving!
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White Smoke and Bells!

After only 24 hours in the conclave, the college of cardinals has elected a new pope. We will wait with baited breath to greet our new papa when he is revealed to us!

Weird Weather Washington

I've decided that the state nickname should be changed from "The Evergreen State" to "The Weird Weather State"! We have succesively gone from warm sunny weather to, wet rainy, and cold. Not to mention having it snow on us at the begining of the month. Grr! Curse you Washington weather for constantly throwing wrenches into my plans!

Requiescat in pace

My dear friends, it is with great sadness that we bid farewell today to our dear beloved holy father! We will miss him tremendously, but we will also be comforted by the fact that he is finally receiving his reward for all of his work here on earth.

Eternal rest grant unto him, oh Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed
through the mercy of God, rest in peace!
Amen

Requiescat in pace

I'm sure all of you have heard it on the radio, or read it in a newspaper or on the internet, but today, Terri Schiavo passed away. I cannot express enough my sorrow at her passing, nor my shame that as Americans we continually do not defend those who need it the most.

Eternal rest grant unto her, oh Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon her!
May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed
through the mercy of God rest in peace,
Amen!

It is officially...

Not Lent anymore! Huzzah! I had an extremely wonderful lenten season this year, and was able to grow quite a bit in the spiritual aspect of my life. Which is what made the celebration of Easter this year all the more celebratable. But the one of my Easter celebration that I enjoyed most was that the Archbishop of Seattle allowed those of us that attend the Latin indult Mass to have the triduum services in the tridentine rite. I even got to serve at them, and that was thoroughly awesome! So anyway, I hope that you all had as wonderful a Lent and Easter as I did.

Happy Easter

This is the last day that I will be able to get to a computer before Sunday, so Happy Easter one and all!

Some people just have too much time...

I heard about this website while listening to the news on my way to Seattle last night, and decided to have a look at it. This guy has an extremely awesome sense of humor, which I think would fit in fairly well with our gang. My favorite experiment is the one involving the effects of smoking and alcohol. Enjoy!

What a bad author!

I'm terribly sorry that I haven't graced you with my cyberspace presence for awhile, but my actual reallity presence has been required on many fronts these past few weeks. The most important event of which was moving stuff into our new house! Our entire house saga from the begining, when we first decided to split the property, to now, where we are actually getting to move into our new house, has been a long and weariesome process of about three years. The most wearing part, however, has been the last six months during which we've been living in travel trailers while we waited for our house to be installed. But, its now in, and we're getting everything moved in and settled.

A few Saturdays ago(the 5th, to be exact) my brother Alex and I joined fellow YFL'er Christina up at St. Monica's on Mercer Island to help out with a pro-life symposium that was being held there. We ended up babysitting all day, which was about a blast and a half. Most of the little'uns we watched were from a family that had just come over from Ireland, that had three girls and a little boy. The two oldest girls(7 & 5) were the only ones who knew how to talk, and they had the cutest little irish accents, and all the little irish idiosyncracies. They were terribly cute, and needless to say, they pretty much had Alex and I wrapped around their collective little finger by the end of the day.

There were also several woderful speakers that day, and we were able to trade off with the babysitting so we were all able to listen to a few of them. Among them were such like Fr. Peter West of Priests for Life, The director of the local Project Rachel, Camille DeBlasi, and our very own Marie Harkins. Marie gave a very powerful and motivational speech, and that may be considered a biased opinion, except for the fact that her's was the only talk to get a standing ovation. Thats how great it was.

But, I must get off now, as I'm getting ready to leave work! I will try to write more later;)

Yet another house update!

I did it! I slept in our house for the very first time! Although it was in a sleeping bag, and the only furniture in their is our dressers, and we still can't use the tubs or toilets, the fact remains that I slept in the house. It was warm, it was dryi,t was just like a little slice of Heaven. Comparitively speaking that is! But the crew who will be finishing up the work, such as the septic tank, putting on gutters, and touching all the little things should be out there today. The key word here being *Should*. We shall see. And if they are, then that means that we will probably get to finish moving all of our stuff in, and actually start living in there. Huzzah!!!!

I can hardly stand it!

We're so close to being able to move into our new house, that its not even funny! Its like being in a full body cast, and its getting close to the time you're supposed to be getting it off, and you have a recurring itch that you can't scratch because of the cast. Thats basically how my entire famliy is feeling right now. Hopefully we'll be able to itch... er... I mean move this weekend!

Time for a little 'Zesty' update!

Well have I played the part of the negligent writer these days past, of which number there are not few. With the longing of the bee, who yearns for his work, have I wanted to word my adventures of these days. But, alas! I have been denied those things which the completing of this task necissitates, the chief of which I name as the lack of internet access. Coupled with the lack of material to write about is the you can discern the cause of my negligence!

Seriously though, I have been extremely busy since my last post, and I haven't even had time to think about what has happened since my last post until now. I will now attempt, however, to lay down as best as I am able the events spanning from my last post until now. Now let's see...

If my memory serves me well, the first major activity that I was able to engage in would be flying on the 15th, followed by another on the 17th. Both focused soley on Touch and Goes, which is basically flying in the traffic pattern at the airport, landing and taking right back off, then doing it all over again. On the fifteenth, my flares( the part of the landing on final approach where I transition from the landing attitude to the touch down attitude) were really rough, which led to some rather bumpy landings. This was rather frustrating to me, but I was able to improve it on my flight on the 17th, on which all of my landings were better, and I had two really good ones. I hopefully be going flying tomorrow, and if I am able to nail my flares and be consistent on my landings, then I will be able to solo!

Saturday was the next day full of activities. To start it all off, we made a trip up to Canada to attend my cousins baptism. It was done in the traditional Latin rite by an Australian priest from the Fraternity of St. Peter, who was visiting the Archdiocese of Vancouver. The most moving part of the ceremony, however was when the priest took the baby in his arms, walked up to the statue of Mary to the side of the altar, and holding him out towards the statue, consecrated him to Mary. Afterwards, we had a jolly good time eating lunch, walking around downtown Vancouver, and talking with the priest about everything under the sun. Then we headed back to the church and went to confession, followed by a private Mass. I can't think of a day that was as well spent as Saturday, nor a better birthday.

Sunday was spent in Seattle seeing a production of Singin' in the Rain goin down at the Fifth Avenue Theater. The theater was simply magnificient, as was the performance. Definitely worth seeing says I!

And that is all I can remember, and hopefully thats all I did. It would be really bad if I had done something worth remembering and didn't remember it, if y'know what I mean;)

Happy St. Valentine's Day

The Origins of St. Valentine's Day

A quick quiz: St. Valentine was:

a) a priest in the Roman Empire who helped persecuted Christians during the reign of Claudius II, was thrown in jail and later beheaded on Feb. 14.
b) a Catholic bishop of Terni who was beheaded, also during the reign of Claudius II.
c) someone who secretly married couples when marriage was forbidden, or suffered in Africa, or wrote letters to his jailer's daughter, and was probably beheaded.
d) all, some, or possibly none of the above.

If you guessed d), give yourself a box of chocolates. Although the mid-February holiday celebrating love and lovers remains wildly popular, the confusion over its origins led the Catholic Church, in 1969, to drop St. Valentine's Day from the Roman calendar of official, worldwide Catholic feasts. (Those highly sought-after days are reserved for saints with more clear historical record. After all, the saints are real individuals for us to imitate.) Some parishes, however, observe the feast of St. Valentine.

The roots of St. Valentine's Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb. 15. For 800 years the Romans had dedicated this day to the god Lupercus. On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year.

Pope Gelasius I was, understandably, less than thrilled with this custom. So he changed the lottery to have both young men and women draw the names of saints whom they would then emulate for the year (a change that no doubt disappointed a few young men). Instead of Lupercus, the patron of the feast became Valentine. For Roman men, the day continued to be an occasion to seek the affections of women, and it became a tradition to give out handwritten messages of admiration that included Valentine's name.

There was also a conventional belief in Europe during the Middle Ages that birds chose their partners in the middle of February. Thus the day was dedicated to love, and people observed it by writing love letters and sending small gifts to their beloved. Legend has it that Charles, duke of Orleans, sent the first real Valentine card to his wife in 1415, when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. (He, however, was not beheaded, and died a half-century later of old age.)

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Thanks to American Catholic for this information!

Egads!!!!

Have you ever been preoccupied, but you can't figure out what it is that your preoccupied about? Well, I've been that way for a couple of days now, and I just can't seem to sluff it off! If anyone has any advice as to how to get over something like this, I would be greatly appreciate it!

"Remember you are dust,..."

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, which marks the begining of the forty days of fasting and penitence known as Lent in the Catholic Church. I am extremely looking forward to it this year as a time for some serious spiritual growth. Last year we kicked lent off with a viewing of Mel Gibson's, "The Passion of the Christ", followed by a 24-30 hour fast and guys's retreat. I think this year, only the girls will be having a retreat, but I plan on watching, "The Passion", again sometime during Lent. Another aspect of this upcoming season, is the willful giving up of something you enjoy for the duration. I have yet to think of what I am giving up, and despite my tradition I will NOT be giving up coffee. I will however be limiting myself to 1(one) cup of the brown goodness per day.

What are you going to be doing for Lent, and why? Also, if you happen to have any ideas as to some other things that I might be able to do, please go ahead and spout them off in the comments box.

So I was just...

...standing here at work waiting for a customer to help, when a rather largish chap walked up to my window. While I was helping him I happened to read his shirt, which stated the following, "The voices aren't real, but they sure have some good ideas."! Sheer Brilliance says I!

Simply amazing!

I was just sitting here at work pondering about nothing in particuliar, when I realized that in just 15 days, I will be one year from my second decade! Its really kinda bizarre to think of it like that, but it also lends itself to a certain feeling of accomplishment! Also our good friend Dr. Jerome will be one year from her second decade in just six days, and Mary K. in...uh... I can't really remember the exact day, but its in May sometime, so a couple of months for her yet.

A comedy of errors!

A comedy of errors! Thats the best way I can think of to describe the chain of events yesterday that involved the delivery of our house.

It all started out very wonderfully, actually! As I was coming home from Everett after having just been flying, I ended up getting behind and following the trucks pulling the two halves of our house. That was pretty awesome, as I was able to call home and sound the alert for them to get everything in order. As we made our way up to our house, we passed the Kennedy's house, and they were all jubilantly out in the yard video-taping and taking pictures of this fateful day. After forcing many cars off of the road, we finally made it to our property.

After making it around the two trucks I hurridley drove to the back of property to watch the proceedings with all who had gathered to watch. All told there was probably about 25 people gathered to watch this momentous occasion, including the Kennedy's, and multiple neighbors. No pressure on the guys bringing it in or anything, as we were only photographig every little move they made.

To start the comedy of errors, while they were pulling the trailers off of the road, they bent the axel on one, and blew one of the tires out on the other. After this little escapade, they realized that they had set up the site wrong, so they were going to have to BACK the trailers all the way into position! That was fairly interesting, and in the midst of backing the back half onto the foundation, they got their little towing tractor stuck. They then attempted to get it unstuck using their truck and only succeeded in getting it stuck. So, with a little bit of shovel work, and couple of huffs and puffs, we managed to get them unstuck.

Then they found that they had started putting it in at the wrong angle, and had to get it remaneuvered. And finally after almost two hours, they got the back half onto the foundation, after which I left for work. I was told however, that they then spent until dark trying to get the other trailer unstuck, because they had parked it on unknowingly on a patch of ground that was just soft enough for the 40,000 lb half of our house to sink into the ground. So they came out this morning to get the other half moved on to the concrete.

To top it all off, however, they also forgot to add in the fourth bedroom, which incidentially happens to be Alex and I's room. And they forgot to take out a half wall which we asked them to. And that is more or less the saga of our home!

Alleluia, the end is finally here..

...or rather it will be by the end of this week. Not the end of the world as we know it, but the end of living in two travel trailers waiting for the work on our property to be completed, and and our mobile home finished being built. It hasn't been THAT bad. Except for the constant dampness, having to constantly wash stuff to prevent mold growth, and various other nusciances.

Our home was scheduled to be delivered today, but do to a lack of communication on the part of our contractor , it won't be delivered until tomorrow. Big Bummer, but at least the house is on its way. Then after they deliver it, they have to get the two halves connected, put in our wood stove, hook up our electrical and water, and finally come and dig our septic field. Then after all of this is done, we have to have a county inspector come out and approve the house for habitation. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, we should be able to start moving into our house by the weekend.

We plan on having a big party to celebrate, complete with a bon-fire, much running around and playing of games, and food! Lots of FOOD!!! But we probably won't be able to get around to doing this until summer, just so we can get everything in order, and get some better weather. Maybe we can even connive to get the homeschool picnic involved in it! The possibilitie's are endless!

Anyway, this is me, signing out!