Friday, January 31, 2014

Family History Friday - Aunt Lillian's Wedding Parts 6, 7 & 8

The finale!

Part 1 here
Part 2 here
Parts 3, 4 and 5 here



Narrator: Father Rehack now recites the Preface

[Father chanting in Latin, with responses from people]

[Church bells chiming, organ music and singing follows.]


Narrator: Mrs. Lebach now sings "Panis Angelicus"

Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
Dat panis cœlicus
figuris terminum:
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum
Pauper, Pauper, servus et humilis.

Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
Dat panis cœlicus
figuris terminum:
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum
Pauper, Pauper, servus et humilis.
Pauper, Pauper, servus et humilis.

Translation:

Bread of the Angels
Is made bread for mankind;
Gifted bread of Heaven
Of all imaginings the end;
Oh, thing miraculous!
This body of God will nourish
the poor, the poor, the servile, and the humble.
the poor, the poor, the servile, and the humble.


[Father chanting with organ soft in background.]

[Father softer now while organ continues and Mrs. Lebach singly softly. Blessing the couple?]

[Organ music continues]

[Organ music rises, playing the Wedding March.]

Narrator: And so is ratified the wedding of Miss Lillian Zoldak to Mr. John Krizansky on this Thanksgiving Day, November 24th, 1949, at St. Benedicts Church in Cleveland, Ohio, by Father Leo Rehack. The bridal party will attend the wedding breakfast at Owen's Plantation, and this afternoon at 3 o'clock a reception for 250 guests will be held at 2816 Woodhill Road.
The Wedding Breakfast
The Bride and Groom are at the head of the table on the right
The Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids on the the Bride's right
next to Father Leo
About the Wedding Breakfast: "We had three tables: Mom's for my side; John's Mother's, Mary Krizansky, for his side; and the wedding party in the center. (At the center table:) Father Leo, Pastor of St. Benedict's, who married us, my sisters, Aunt Eleanore and Uncle Frank (Zoldak). Father Benedict was next to my husband. Mom's table (seen on left in photo above): Louis and Annie Baylog, good friends of my Mom's, Aunt Sophie, Ethel & Ed Seman, Ann & George Draeger, our friends." - Aunt Lillian 

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Winter Storm Leon at Our House

Thomas enjoyed a day off from school due to Winter Storm Leon on Wednesday. The superintendent said the decision was made "out of an abundance of caution." It was probably the right thing to do, especially considering how things went Tuesday in Atlanta. The forecast ranged from 1/4 inch of snow/ice/sleet to 3 inches. It turned out to be mostly rain, though some of it was freezing.

Can you see the frozen rain accumulating on the deck?
(Click on the photo to see it larger!) 8:45am Wed
The only place you could really see the frozen stuff was on the deck.
On other surfaces, it melted on contact. 10:20am Wed
After the rain/sleet/ice stopped, the temp dropped.
Icicles on the trash bin. 2:12pm Wed
Thomas still has our FSU Championship flag on display in the
front yard. The wind had knocked it over. I stood it back up
and almost froze my hands! All the water droplets were ice.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Winter Pool Drama

We've had our fair share of issues in our yard this month (see this as a case in point) and our new trouble is that the pool liner has not enjoyed all the cold weather we've been having.

Wednesday, I noticed the water level was lower than it should have been. I got the hose out (I'd put them both in the garage to protect them from the 20 degree temps) and filled it.

The water level continued to fall. Thursday morning it was down a bit more:

And by Sunday more than half the water was gone:

I called our pool guy and he came over and declared the liner dead. We couldn't find a hole but the cost to get a diver (!!) here to fix and attempt to repair it was formidable, especially since there's no guarantee a patch would work. The liner was not new - but we have replaced it once in the 11 1/2 years we've lived here. With age, it's gotten brittle, and the cold weather probably caused its early demise. I'll share pictures of the new improved pool in a few weeks!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Disc Golf Adventures - Tradewinds Park

Last Friday we played our first of two new disc golf courses: Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek in south Florida. It was a gorgeous morning - mid-fifties and sunny with a strong wind, which makes for a fun game.
This is a beautiful park. You can see the lake from the first tee pad!

Luckily that strong wind helped keep us from losing 
our discs in the lake - several of the holes followed the shoreline.

Can you see the basket for this hole? It's to the right
of the three palm trees, out on a little peninsula.
Seriously, it was so lucky that we didn't lose any discs!

Not every hole was a chance to send your disc for a swim.
The park is well cared for; all the grass is mowed
and there wasn't too much brush for your disc to hide in.

Some of the goals were in interesting spots, like this one,
tucked in a little clearing behind tall and short palm trees.

And this one, behind a tree that fell long ago.
(T had fun climbing over it.)

We played all 18 holes and would definitely recommend the park. The course was well-marked and easy to navigate. 

Tradewinds Park
3600 W Sample Rd
Coconut Creek, FL 33066

Friday, January 24, 2014

Family History Friday - Aunt Lillian's Wedding Parts 3, 4 & 5

Are you ready for the next parts of the wedding? Father Leo sounds a bit like he has a mouth full of marbles during parts of these, so if you're reading along in the transcript while listening, please recommend any edits you hear differently than I did!

Part 1 here
Part 2 here


Transcription:

And because these words involve such solemn vows as these, it is most fitting that to risk the security of unwed life upon the great risk of love's self-sacrifice. And so to begin your married life by the voluntary and complete surrender of your individual lives in the interest of that deeper and wider life which you are to have in common. Henceforth you will have value in each other. You will be one in mind, one in heart, and one in the senses. Whatever sacrifice you may be asked or be required to make to preserve this common life always make them generously. Sacrifice can be made to seem irksome but love can make it easy. And perfect love can make it a joy. We are willing to give in proportion to love. And when love is perfect a sacrifice is complete. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son ... for our salvation. Greater love than this no man has. That a man lay down his life for his friends.

No greater blessing can come to your married life than with pure conjugal love, loyal and true to the end. May then this love with which you join your hands and hearts today never fail but grow deeper and stronger as the years go on. And with true love being unselfish and a perfect sacrifice guide your every action you can expect the greatest measure of perfect happiness that may be allotted to man in this gated? theatre. The rest is in the hands of God as you kneel before him?

lifelong support of His ?? and the holy sacrament which you now are going to receive

Father: John Krizansky will thou take Lillian Zoldak, here present, for your lawful wife, according to the light of our holy Mother, the Church? Say "I will."

John K: I will.

Father: Lillian Zoldak, will thou take John Krizansky, here present, for your lawful husband, according to the light of our holy Mother, the Church? Say "I will."

Lillian: I will.

[Vows, repeated after Father with pauses where marked]

I, John Krizansky, /take thee, /Lillian /Zoldak /for my lawful /wife /to have /and to hold /from this day forward /for better /for worse /for richer /for poorer /in sickness /and in health /until death /do us part /so help me God.

I, Lillian Zoldak, /take thee, /John Krizansky /for my lawful /husband /to have /and to hold /from this day forward /for better /for worse /for richer /for poorer /in sickness /and in health /until death /do us part /so help me God.

[Latin marriage words and what sounds like incense]

[Father singing in Latin]



John (repeating after Father): With this ring /I thee wed /And I pledge /unto thee /my troth

[Father chanting/singing in Latin. Response from what sounds like a single person - blessing of the ring?]

John (repeating after Father): So help me God, / the Blessed /and Immaculate / Virgin Mary, /and all the Saints /in Heaven /that I, John /that I, John /do really love /Lillian /and loving her /I take her /for my lawful /wife /according to the commandments /of God /and the custom /of the Catholic Church /that I will never /forsake her /until her /or my death /in any /adversity /so help me God

Lillian (repeating after Father): So help me God, / the Blessed /and Immaculate / Virgin Mary, /and all the Saints /in Heaven /that I, Lillian /do really love /John /and loving him /I take him /for my lawful /husband /according /to the commandments /of God /and the custom /of the Catholic Church /that I will never /forsake him /until his /or my death /in any /adversity /so help me God

[Father: speaking in Latin, blessing the couple?]


[Music and church bells and more music]

Narrator: Mrs. Lebach now sings "Ave Maria"

Ave Maria, Ave Maria
Ave Maria, gratia plena.
Maria, gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus,
Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
Et benedictus
Et benedictus fructus ventris,
Ventris tui, Jesus.
Ave Maria.
John and Lillian's 25th Anniversary, 1974
From left to right: Grandma Zoldak, Rosemarie, Ronnie Rendessy, Margaret,
Lillian, John, Florence, Paul Rendessy, John Z.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Presidents and Their Pets

I was just saying yesterday that Thomas has an uncommon ability to find just what he wants on youtube. This video is a case in point. It's about the US Presidents (one of his favorite things) and their pets/animals (another of his favorites). I am generally pretty good at finding things on the internet but this one eluded me - I had to have him show it to me!



It has about 1,400 views, and a good portion of them are probably from our house.

P.S. We've fact checked and the song is accurate. For a full list of Presidential pets see here.

Archie Roosevelt (Teddy's son)
with pet badger Josiah

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Fun with Plumbers... Adventures in Wastewater

Two weeks ago Sunday, T flooded the bathroom while taking a bath. I didn't freak out or think there was a problem until Tuesday evening when it happened again and I realized that the water wasn't draining properly. We opened the clean out cap in the front bushes and out came all the bathwater. Great news - the clog was not in the house! Wednesday I called the plumbers who agreed to come on Thursday, in spite of the fact that they were swamped by broken pipe calls from the Polar Vortex

Thursday the plumber spent an hour snaking the wastewater line. He said the problem was out at the street, not in the yard, so I called the city. They sent a couple guys over with a special truck. They snaked the pipe, and checked out the yard and declared they had found the problem. They spray painted the yard, told me it was in space that was our responsibility, and left. Friday the plumbers promised to come back to dig but it rained all day. Monday they came and dug a deep trench. 

Then they made the trench longer, in hopes of finding the problem. No luck.

Next they snaked the line again. With the pipe now exposed, they could hear the snake going by! Looks like the problem is not in the part of the yard that is our responsibility. The plumbing supervisor came to the house to check on things and called the city. They asked for a new clean out cap at this spot that has been excavated to make it easier to reach the problem. 
So now we have this 15 inch tall pipe sticking up out of the middle of the yard, and a promise from the city that they will be by on Tuesday to check on the problem. 

I came home from morning disc golf and dropping T off at school to find a whole construction project in our front yard. 
Seven trunks lined the street in front of our house! The started with snaking and quickly moved on to digging a big hole. The hole got so deep, all I could see was the hard hats of the guys standing in it. The hole grew and out went two sections of our sidewalk. Then they cut new sections of pipe.
Eventually, I saw one of the men raise his arms in a traditional victory pose. Success!

They filled the hole back in (I tried to make a video for T)

There's still work to do but the drains are again draining!
time for some new sidewalk!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Alpha Chi Omega (Work and) Fun at the Beach 2014

I spent Saturday and Sunday with the FSU Alpha Chi Omega for their 2014 Executive Board Retreat at St. George Island. The house this year, Aisle of Palms, was beautiful, and ideal for a conference or special event. Gorgeous, right?

It was clear and sunny on Saturday when we arrived. Here is the view from the deck: 

It was beautiful but chilly. We worked inside all morning and afternoon, setting goals, identifying strengths and opportunities, bonding, and planning

In the late afternoon, we went outside to take photos of each exec board member and of the group as a whole for the chapter's website, blog and instagram. (Thanks Jenn for the action shot!) 

It was really cold out on the beach! And windy!! In this one, you can really see how the wind was blowing everyone's hair around!

We did manage to get some really great pictures near the water:

We moved up to the pool deck and had great light and a little bit of shelter from the wind

In all, I took 180 photos on Saturday! 

We had a pretty sunset on Saturday (above) and awoke to a warmer morning Sunday that quickly turned into rain. I captured the double rainbow off our front deck (facing the street and the bay) right as the weather moved in.

The weather went out as quickly as it had come in, and luckily we ended up with a beautiful day - sunny and close to 60 degrees. More advisors arrived Sunday so we had our own mini-photo shoot: 

After a morning of small group meetings, some outdoor time was welcome. After lunch, I packed up and headed back home (with my travel companions, Tara and Meagan). What a wonderful time with good friends and an impressive group of chapter leaders. If this retreat is an indication, they can look forward to a great year!

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Friday, January 17, 2014

Family History Friday - Aunt Lillian's Wedding Part 2

On November 24th, 1949, my father's eldest sister, Lillian, married her husband, John. The event was recorded for posterity. Recently converted to digital audio by my cousin, Greg, here is the second in a series of 8 original 78 albums.

See Part 1 here


Transcription:

Now Mrs. Steven Layback accompanied at the organ by Mr. Thomas Raynak sings "On This Day, Oh Beautiful Mother."

On this day, O beautiful Mother,
On this day we give thee our love.
Near the, Madonna, fondly we hover,
Trusting thy gentle care to prove.

On this day we ask to share,
Dearest Mother, thy sweet care;
Aid us ere our feet astray
Wander from thy guiding way.

On this day, O beautiful Mother,
On this day we give thee our love.
Near the, Madonna, fondly we hover,
Trusting thy gentle care to prove.

The bride now returns to the entrance of the sanctuary where the groom awaits her. Together they mount the sanctuary steps and kneel before the altar. Father Rehack is about to begin the ceremony.

Father: In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen. My dear friends, you are about to enter a union which is most sacred and most serious. Most sacred because it is established by God Himself. Most serious because it binds you together for life. A relationship so close and so intimate that it will bind you for all future. That future with hopes and disappointments, with successes and with failures, with pleasures and with pains. With joys and with sorrows. hidden from your eyes. These elements are mingled in every life and are to be expected in your own. And so not knowing what is before you, you take each other for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health until death. Truly then these words are most serious. It is a beautiful tribute to the amount of faith in each other that's recognizing the full importance and nevertheless being willing and ready to pronounce that.

  I believe this is the wedding location. The "new" St. Benedict's opened in 1953. 

I had help with the lyrics from this site

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Cashew Chicken

Cashew Chicken in the Crockpot? Yes, please!
Cashew Chicken
Adapted from The Recipe Critic via PreventionRD

Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use the frozen chicken tenderloins from Publix)
¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 Tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup water
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2-3 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
½ cup whole cashews

Instructions:
Cut chicken into large, 1½-inch pieces. Combine flour and pepper in a zip lock bag, add chicken, and shake to coat with flour mixture.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to skillet and brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side (note: do not cook chicken completely); transfer chicken in slow cooker. (I did this in batches so it didn't crowd in the pan.) After all the chicken is cooked, deglaze the pan with the quarter cup water, then pour the liquid and tasty bits from the pan into the crock pot with the chicken.
Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, and ginger in small bowl; pour over chicken.

Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Add cashews and stir, then enjoy.

We served this with brown rice and steamed broccoli and it was delicious!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Master Bedroom Project

This fall I started to work on making my master bedroom a more welcoming comfortable space. The pieces are coming together so I thought I would share where I am so far and what's left on my to-do list.

The first thing I did was get a bed and then a tv and bed side tables:
Bed and side tables (same on both sides of bed)
The most recent, and to me, most exciting news is that I've picked a theme for the art work and plan to focus on scenes from north Florida. My first two pieces just arrived. Remember my pictures of foggy and misty Tallahassee? I had them printed on canvas and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out:



I still need window treatments, paint and linens, as well as a cabinet for the tv and other electronics, but I'm making a lot of progress. I'm collecting ideas on pinterest (see board below if you want to check it out).


Monday, January 13, 2014

Twitter Year in Review 2013

Twitter remains my favorite social network. I came across this fun service, Vizify, last week that created some visuals to recap 2013. The first is a little movie. Unfortunately, you can't embed it but you can view it by clicking on the tweet below or by clicking here.

The other fun creation is my top tweets from 2013. Again, this is a screenshot, so it's not interactive, but you can click here or below the image to visit the actual page on the web. There you can view the original tweets and also follow links included in them. I think they are all fairly self-explanatory except for the one from Nov 30 - that was my reaction to the Auburn touchdown at the end of the Iron Bowl. 
https://twitter.com/amy_z/timelines/420166366545465344
What were your favorite moments on twitter in 2013? 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Quote of the Week

Do not judge by 
appearances;
A rich heart may be
under a poor coat.
-Scottish Proverb

Friday, January 10, 2014

Family History Friday - Aunt Lillian's Wedding Part 1

When my father's eldest sister married, the ceremony was recorded with narration onto a set of 78 rpm records. She gave them to my cousin, Greg, and he transferred them to digital. He recently shared them with me. There are 8 records in all. I'll share one each Friday along with the best transcription I can divine. I will apologize as I'm sure I am spelling everyone's names wrong (aside from the people I know personally!).



Trust me when I say listening to this is a real treat! The narrator is almost like a sportscaster and his attention to detail is pretty impressive.

Transcription:

[Church bells chiming]

This is Thursday morning, November 24th, Thanksgiving Day 1949. it is now 10 o'clock and this is St. Benedict's Church at Lamontier and East Blvd in Cleveland, Ohio, where the wedding of Miss Lillian Zoldak and Mr. John Krizansky is about to take place.

Miss Zoldak is the daughter of Mrs. Margaret Zoldak of 2816 Woodhill Road in Cleveland and Mr. Krizansky the son of Mrs. Mary Krizansky of 9403 Buckeye Road, also in Cleveland. Initiating at this single ring ceremony is Father Leo Rehack. At this moment the wedding party is proceeding slowly down the center aisle toward the altar. First come the bridesmaids, Florence and Rosemarie Zoldak, sisters of the bride. They both are wearing gowns of champagne colored satin and veiled Juliet caps which are brown velvet. On their hands the bridesmaids wear short mitts matching their gowns in color and they are carrying bouquets of gold and bronze chrysanthemums. Attached to the bouquets are brown velvet streamers which match the Juliet caps. Next is Margaret Zoldak, the Maid of Honor and also the bride's sister. She too is dressed in a satin gown champagne color and matching mitts on her hands. Her Juliet cap is also velvet and veiled and green in color. The bouquet she carries matches her cap being of green orchids and ivy with green velvet streamers. The bride's mother, Mrs. Zoldak, watches the procession attired in a gold brocaded suit dress. Her hat is of white velour and has gold and pearled trimming and gold veiling. She wears white kid gloves and her suede shoes and purse are dark brown. Her corsage is a white orchid. Mrs. Krizansky, mother of the groom, is wearing a blue crepe dress and blue hat. Her corsage is also a white orchid. The groom is standing outside the sanctuary with his ushers, Misters Louis Balogh Jr. and Theodore Rendessy. Mr. Rendessy is the groom's nephew. The groom is attired in tuxedo and white bow tie. His ushers are wearing tuxedos and black ties. On this occasion, the sides of the altar are flanked with palms and vases of white chrysanthemums.

Now here comes the bride herself on the arm of her brother, Mr. John Zoldak, who is also Best Man at this ceremony. The bride is beautiful in a gown of candlelight satin. The gown has a high neckline and the collar is beaded with pearls. There are satin-covered buttons down the front of the waistline. Her gown has a fitted bodice, long full skirt, long train. There are beaded balls of satin at the waistline. Her sleeves are long and pointed with satin-covered buttons at the tip. On her head, the bride wears a crown of orange blossoms to which is caught a two-tiered full-length veil of lace. Her bouquet is of calla lilies, baby pompoms and stephanotis.

Now the bride and her brother have reached the entrance to the sanctuary. The bride turns and goes to the altar of the Blessed Mother to pray for her guidance and blessing.

[Sounds of the bridal march in the background]
The bride and her family
Florence, Margaret, Margaret Sr (mother), Lillian, John and Rosemarie

Thursday, January 9, 2014

FSU National Champions at Football!!!

Even though it's been a few days since the BCS National Championship Game, it's still hard to believe that FSU really won. Perhaps this comes from too many years of being a Cleveland sports fan, during which none of my teams have made it to the finish and won that big game when it mattered most, but it's hard to even take in the moment. I guess we'll just have to celebrate a little.

We have been season ticket holders for ten years now. The team has always been good - never below .500, always invited to a bowl game. We've been to big games that they've won and to big games that they've lost. We've sweated and nearly gotten heat stroke at some games and gotten soaked to the bone in the rain at others. It's always fun and such a blessing to have the opportunity to experience great college football in person.

I'm going to be totally honest and admit that I didn't have the fortitude to stay up and watch the whole game Monday night. The anxiety was about killing me. I kept taking breaks to clean the kitchen and do other chores to distract myself from what looked like it might turn into a full-scale implosion. I also knew that if anyone could rally, it was this team. That's why I'm not surprised that I woke up to hear hubs yelling at the top of his lungs at the television when Kermit Whitfield returned the kick off for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. I got to see the celebrations after the game which was awesome.

I wanted to share a few things in honor of the big win. First the video post-game summary and second a little video of our new championship flag.





Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Two Days in Tallahassee

What would you do if you had less than 48 hours in Tallahassee? What would you see and do? We had the chance to answer this question in real life in November when Dawn spent two days with us. She arrived on a Friday morning and left early Sunday. Here are the highlights/our recommendations for not-to-miss fun:

1. Make the most of the art that's all around us. Like in the airport!
Dawn signing the guest book at the ArtPort gallery
2. Say hello to the Gulf 3. eat some local food 
Our picnic at St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge
Local cheeses from Sweet Grass Dairy, local chocolate from
Srsly Chocolate, locally grown radishes plus fruit, crackers and water
4. take a selfie
Self portrait at St Marks
5. lunch (or any meal) at Sage 
We both had the lunch special: Marinated beef tacos with avocado butter,
radish, cabbage, cilantro sprouts - ridiculously good
6. dinner at Kool Beanz with friends (Jenn, Britain and ran into Paula!)
Dawn's dinner at Kool Beanz - Cuban style cobia (if I'm
remembering correctly!)
7. visit Tom Brown Park (yes we took Dawn out to play disc golf!)
8. relax! we went for massages at the fabulous neighborhood Sage Spa
9. experience a local tradition 10. support some good causes and
11. have a great time with friends.
We accomplished the last three at Brewfest Tallahassee  
I love that my camera creates these .gifs 
If you had just two days in Tallahassee, how would you spend them? 
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