Today's Sermonette...

This will partly be delivered in the Old Country Baptist Style which means it will have lots of tangents and might totally go off its original track and never get back to it.


I just read a random blogger's profile. He identified himself as "Jewish, atheist." Okay, I don't mean this to offend anyone, but how can someone seriously call himself a Jewish atheist? Now, I know that 'Jewish' describes an ethnic group and not only a religion. But you have to admit that calling yourself a 'Jewish atheist' is an awful lot like calling yourself something like a Catholic witch. The two words just don't belong together. Now that I've offended several ethnic groups (as have many old country Baptist sermons I've heard in my life) I'll go on to my next idea.

Ray Nagin is at it again, but this time he's taking a page out of Pat Robertson's play book. He is aligning himself with such religious zealots as Robertson and Michael Markcavage of Repent America by saying that Katrina was God's Wrath. But he says that instead of God punishing the city for its corruption God is mad at all of America for invading Iraq. Oh, boy. He goes on to say that God is upset with black people for not taking care of themselves and that New Orleans will again be a 'chocolate' city.

"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans- the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."

Hmmm, how well would we tolerate the mayor of a predominantly white city saying that God wants that city to be majority white? Not too well I think. However, I don't think that Nagin's heart is completely in the wrong place. I think he ultimately would like for blacks to be more supportive of each other so that they would have strength in unity to help solve their conflicts within their communities. But I'm always trying to find the positive in things and I might just be wrong.

Sometimes when I'm flipping through the channels on TV I'll watch a little of the Christian stations if they are airing a church service. I like to hear what the sermons are about. I've noticed that most of them lately have been Old Testament based and often about God's Wrath. I'm kind of tired of that. I'd like to hear some good sermons on the New Testament, except for Revelations which gets thrown into these Old Testament sermons. What ever happened to the sermons of my Lutheran upbringing that took something that Jesus said or did and applied it to our modern life? Is that not sensational enough these days? Is that not enough to keep people's attention?

I'd like for Nagin, among others, to read this passage from the New Testament. I think it says much that needs to be heard...

1 Corinthians 2 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"—
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

So why do I think this is relevant? Well, I think it means that people must be very careful about proclaiming that they know what God is thinking or what God's intentions are. Discernment comes from the Spirit, not "human wisdom." I think Nagin, as well as everyone else (myself included), should keep this in mind when spouting off about what we think God wants or why something happens. Before they speak and say that they know the mind of God they should be sure that what they say really does come from the Spirit and not from their own ideas, prejudices, and conclusions.

And by saying all of this I'm in no way suggesting that I understand God better than anyone else. Far from it. I'm no Bible scholar. I can't even name the books of the Bible by memory. And honestly, the way I found the scripture above was by 'randomly' selecting a Book to read on http://bible.cc/. It was the first one that I clicked. Funny how that worked out. Odd coincidence or guidance from above? I don't know. Do I really need to know? Maybe not. But I am tempted to think that perhaps this is part of my 'calling' as a lowly hoe. The hoe is used to dig and loosen the soil so that the weeds and rocks and other chaff is easier to remove.

And another thing that comes to mind is the way that all these TV evangelists present themselves. There's an awful lot of vanity there in the guise of 'glorifying God.' But who am I to question whether $1000 suits and immaculate hair and makeup and multi-million dollar settings aren't what God wants from these people? But I have to admit that it bothers me. That and the way that they all seem to sell their books, offering all their 'God-given wisdom' at a price. I know that people have to support their families and that it is the American way to make a buck, but I have serious issues with people who sell the word of God, or at least their understanding of it. I really believe that if someone has been enlightened by God with some wonderful wisdom then they should be giving it away. I don't recall reading anywhere in the Bible that Jesus charged a fee for people to hear him speak. I'd like to ask someone like Joel Olsteen if it's really biblically based for him to profit from the word of God. Sure, God promises that he'll provide, but Jesus also said, "How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!" (WEB) Mark 10:23, Luke 18:24. And another, Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (WEB) Matthew 19:21. Even if a portion of Olsteen's profits go to charity it seems that might not be enough.

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

Application Question #1

Anyone can answer even if you aren't applying to be my boss.

This is a multi-part question:

1. What is your favorite James Bond movie and why?

2. Which Bond do you prefer- Connery, Moore, What's-His-Name, or Bronsnan? Or that one guy who did only one Bond movie? And why?

3. If you were James Bond describe your current femme fatale. What is her name? What is her appeal? What is her danger? What is her demise? (Feel free to be as descriptive as you need to be. I like details.)

4. Which Bond Movie Theme is your favorite? And why?

5. And finally, which Bond movie do you think is the absolute worst one? And why?


(Apologies if we have already discussed any of these subjects here in the past. I'm getting old and my memory isn't what it used to be.)

Political Correctness Out of Control

David just called a while ago to tell me about something he heard on the radio. He listens to NewsTalk while he's driving between jobs and keeps me informed of interesting tidbits he hears on there. Today they were talking about how the term Redneck is no longer politically correct. I asked him what is the new politically correct term. He said that we are now to be called and to call ourselves Appalachian Americans. LOL Doesn't that sound fancy? But we think that's just ridiculous. I'm not offended by the term Redneck, or even Hillbilly for that matter. I'm proud of my heritage. I can trace my lineage all the way back to pre-Revolution. And that means the American Revolution, you know, back in 1776 when we declared our Independence from England. I'm an All-American Girl and proud of it. (I'm not implying that you have to be able to trace your history back that far to be 'All-American'. A naturalized citizen is All-American too in my view.)

And we also think that many people around here will be offended by this new term because they will think that people are making fun of them. Rednecks are pretty simple people, and by 'simple' I don't mean dumb. We think of ourselves primarily as Americans, just plain Americans. We don't feel the need to attach some distinguishing adjective to our American-ness. And I think we'll continue to call ourselves Rednecks or Hillbillies just like many black people (African Americans if you must, though most all of them weren't actually born in Africa) still use the "n" word with each other. I don't like the "n" word and don't use it, but who am I to tell black people that they can't use it? I hope that 'Redneck' won't go the way of the "n" word and become totally controversial.

When I call myself a Redneck I am saying that I come from a rural background, as opposed to an urban one. I grew up watching the Beverly Hillbillies and laughing at it because it struck a nerve of truth. Certainly, it was exaggerated to the hilarious extreme, but there was an element of reality to their simple view of life and their ingenuity in functioning in 'high society.' Granny actually reminded me a little of one of my grandmothers, though we never, ever ate 'possum. It's funny to note here though, that in Tennessee a few years ago the State Legislature passed a law (TCA Section 70-4-115) that allows people to pick up roadkill for their personal use and consumption. This has been the butt of many jokes, but for the practical Redneck it makes perfect sense to be able to take a dead deer off the road and use it instead of letting it stay there and waste. I've never picked up roadkill myself and don't plan to, but I can't say that I would never do it.

I suppose I'm treading on delicate territory here, but I'm not one to avoid touchy subjects. From my viewpoint it looks like there is a kind of Redneck Renaissance trying to assert itself by taking more pride in our rural heritage and expressing our comfort with that. We aren't ashamed of our Redneckness as some in our parents' generation might have been. They seemed to want to forget their origins and move away from their roots. My own mother was pretty uncomfortable with her rural background. She saw it as a weakness of some sort. I think she'd be a little horrified at my own claim of being a Redneck.

What we have begun to accept now is that there are many varieties of Rednecks. There are the trailer park Rednecks. And there are the farming Rednecks. And there are the more sophisticated Rednecks. And there are the highly educated Rednecks. And there are even Nouveaux Rednecks (previously more urban or suburban people who move out to the country) kind of like the Nouveaux Riches. There are good Rednecks, and there are bad Rednecks, just like any other group.

For a great article about Redneck heritage read this archived story from Parade Magazine. And WBIRTV has The Heartland Series that celebrates our heritage and spotlights local artisans, traditions, etc. It is a wonderful, award-winning series that has been produced for 20 years.

Position Available

Well, since my search for a Personal/Administrative Assistant has turned up empty (because the candidate offered the job didn't take it), I've decided to change it to a different position. Everyone is encouraged to apply. So what is this job anyway?

Be My Boss!

See, David is actually my 'boss', but as you can imagine having that employee/boss relationship with your spouse can be tricky sometimes. And to be honest, I'm not that good of an employee which makes his job harder than it should be. So I think it might be good if I had someone else that I have to be accountable to in regards to my work.

Here's a brief job description:

As my boss your responsibilities would be to make sure that I'm getting my work done in a timely fashion. Accuracy isn't usually a problem for me so you wouldn't have to go over the completed work to check for that. If it's done then it's generally done right. It's just getting it started that's the problem. Maybe I better title for this position could be 'coach', and that's up to negotiation.

The qualifications and benefits will remain much the same as for the previous job.

Please leave any questions here and I'll answer them as best I can. Leave a comment indicating whether or not you're interested in applying. The same applicants for the other position may apply for this one (including the one who was offered the previous position). You may also leave comments with suggestions for 'sweetening the pot' (making the positition more attractive to potential applicants). I will take all comments into consideration.

The interviews will commence as soon as there are candidates.

Things that keep me from blogging...

1. Daily Confession. I have to read all the daily confessions and talk back to them if I feel so inclined.

2. Kids and school stuff.

3. Housework.

4. Busted scanner and no way to connect digital camera to computer.

5. Centipede.

6. Office work and responsibilities. (this one is low on the list because I'm such a slacker)

7. Slowness in reading and writing.

8. Lack of inspiration for good posts.


I'm sorry to all the bloggers that I usually read. I'm having trouble getting my shit together these days. Don't give up on me!

Stream of (Un)Consciousness

It's been a while since I've allowed myself to sit here and let my thoughts flow. I've been so busy lately with things that have kept me away from the computer. This is a good thing in some ways, but I don't like not having enough time for blogging. Was that a double negative? Whatever. Just a bump in the road. Sentence fragments. Yeah, well...

I think Alito is hot. I like him. He's easier for me to look at and listen to than Roberts was. I couldn't get into watching the Roberts confirmation stuff. He looked too plastic or something. But even though Alito is rather 'common' looking I find myself attracted to something about him. Hmmm, if he gets on the Supreme Court there's another reason for me to want that gig too. LOL

Seriously though, this morning in the kitchen I heard on Fox that there was a survey about the Supreme Court that asked people to name 8 of the current Justices. The results were 0% statistically. So I tried to name them, and the kids asked what I was talking about. I could only think of 5 (remember this is less than an hour from waking up) and explained what it was. Then my almost 10 year old asked me if the Supreme Court ruled a certain way, even if it seemed against the law, was it still considered true? I said, well, yeah pretty much because the Supreme Court generally has the last word. I told them that I wanted to be on the Supreme Court.

"But Momma I thought you wanted to be a cop."

WHAT? "No, I never said I wanted to be a cop. But I did say that I wished I could give people tickets for driving bad."

"Then why do you want to be on the Supreme Court?"

What is this, a confirmation hearing? "Uh, because they have the last word." LOL

32.34714% - Total Geek

Take the Geek Test... http://www.innergeek.us./geek-test.html

More About "Daniel"

I just can't leave well enough alone. But I just want to do a follow-up on the Book of Daniel TV show. I watched it and enjoyed it. It just showed that the clergy is just like any other profession... there are dysfunctional families in all professions. The issues and problems with the church officials was dead on... we all know that the church isn't free of political issues of power and corruption. The example that particularly struck me was when the bishop said something to the effect of, "Now, Daniel, don't go quoting the Bible to me. I've got a doctorate in theology from Yale(?)..." It illustrated that organized churches are just as susceptible to corruption and other human frailties as any other organization. There are shows about crooked cops, lawyers, and doctors. Why not church officials? No, maybe many people don't want to see that or hear about it, but ignoring it or hiding it away doesn't mean that it's not there. I think it's a good thing to expose that the church has problems. And if they can't laugh at themselves then they have even bigger problems.

And the Jesus character was the Jesus that the priest has his own personal relationship with. Isn't that what we all are supposed to have? Who am I to judge another's relationship with Jesus? Who am I to say that Jesus doesn't visit with someone else and offer a quiet kind of moral support that encourages that person to choose the right way of handling a situation (whether the person makes that right choice or not)? And who am I to say that Jesus can't see the humor in our human condition? You know, I'm the last person in the world to describe myself as a 'good' Christian, but I like to think that I have my own personal relationship with the Divine. I'd love for Jesus to visit with me the way that he visits with Daniel in the show. He is full of love and forgiveness. That's the Jesus I know.

Anyway, I do plan to continue watching the show when I have time. If it ever gets to a point of being offensive or overly silly for me then I'll quit watching. But for people to call for stations to not air it and deny other's the right of choice, well, to me that's just wrong. For some reason the word pharisaical comes to mind.

However, I did notice that most of the commercials that ran here during the show were of the .org variety, meaning non-profit and more public service announcements. There were also lots of spots previewing other NBC programs. I'm sure the local station here lost a lot of advertising revenue during that time which makes their decision to air the show that much more brave and admirable. But in this case thank God for Freedom of Speech!

False Prophets

Revelation 16:13

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (KJV)

Well, sure, everyone else has mentioned it so I might as well too. Pat Robertson has declared that God punished Sharon by stroke. Much the same as when he said that the attack of 9-11 was God's punishment, and didn't he say that about New Orleans too? Honestly, I haven't paid too much attention to what he says on a daily basis so I don't know if he makes these kinds of statements all the time or if he only does it about major events. If Sharon miraculously recovers from all of this then Robertson will probably declare him the Antichrist (since he's so intent on defining these as the "End Days").

Revelation 13:3

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. (KJV)

Okay, I am NOT saying that Sharon is the beast. I'm just imagining what might be going on in a crazy man's head, the crazy man being Pat Robertson. And in case it's not clearly indicated, if you click the title it will take you to a brief description of false prophets.

And Another Thing...

There is a new NBC show that airs tonight that is causing an uproar. The Book of Daniel has been criticized by conservative religious groups who are asking their local NBC affiliates to not air the show. Our local NBC station announced yesterday that they would air the show. You can read their statement by clicking the previous sentence, but I am including it here also:


WBIR-TV's statement on NBC program, "The Book of Daniel"

A statement from WBIR-TV General Manager, Jeff Lee

Thank you for your expression of concern and interest in the program, "The Book of Daniel." We have heard from many of you.

We at WBIR find ourselves in a no-win situation. Regardless of our decision, some of our viewers will be upset. We don't like upsetting even one viewer.

"The Book of Daniel" is a TV program: that's all.

We think you should make up your own mind as to whether or not to watch any TV program.

We know that you have many choices of what you can watch, and that decision should be yours alone. You know best what's right for your household.

We are not debating whether "The Book of Daniel" is a good or bad program; that is for you to decide.

WBIR will air "The Book of Daniel." We will air warnings that the program is not for everyone.

The decision to watch it or not to watch it is entirely yours.

Thank you for listening, and we hope you understand WBIR's decision.

I completely agree with their decision. It really irks me that some of the same people who bitch and moan about Christ being taken out of Christmas are the same ones who attack the freedom of speech and expression of a show like this. Sorry, but they are being hypocrites. And that hypocrisy is one of the things that hampers their cause. It makes them look really dumb and selfish in wanting to censor this show. I'm not talking about all Christians here, just the ones who get all worked up over a TV show. This show is NOT an attack on Christianity. It's a fictional story of a priest's challenges and how his faith works, or doesn't work, in helping him. I will be better able to decide if it ridicules religion after I've watched. But I suspect that it does not ridicule religion as much as it is a story of human failures and challenges and triumphs.

And I do plan to watch the show because I enjoy TV shows and movies with religious themes, even if they aren't exactly theologically or biblically 'correct'. I loved the show Joan of Arcadia and hated to see it cancelled.

To echo the sentiments of Jeff Lee, if you don't like it don't watch it. But please, don't try to take away the choices of those who might want to watch it.

One down, one to go...

Okay, technical difficulty 1 has been repaired. My cable modem was messed up all day yesterday, and the repairman fixed it this morning.

Centipede attack is ongoing, but I have managed to contain all the creepy crawlies in one large box....




No, that isn't a picture of my particular large box, but it does look exactly like it. Santa brought me this nifty thing that not only contains all those bugs but also allows me to shoot them. When I was a kid in the 1980s I used to have to put many quarters into similar boxes to practice shooting bugs, but now I can do it anytime I want! And no need to feed it quarters! Ah, what a great trip down memory lane. And I wonder if this counts as aerobic exercise because it sure does increase my heart rate.

I'll post pictures of my box and all my high scores as soon as I get a new cord for my digital camera. The puppies chewed up the other cord. Not that my scores are anything to brag about though. So far I'm up to a little over 37,000. But that's a far cry from the all time record high score, 7,111,111. That score was reached by some guy who has the time to play 8 hours at a time. Yeah, I've been scarce in the blogosphere lately, but I assure you that I've not been playing Centipede for very long stretches. I don't have that luxury, or the stamina. lol

Please Stand By...

Experiencing technical difficulties...

Also under attack...

Giant centipedes, spiders, fleas, scorpions.... trying to contain them in one box... nasty little buggers...

Please stand by....

Retrospection, 2005

I was going to title this post "2005, the Year that Kicked My Ass." But I just wasn't in the mood for a long title today. Maybe that's because at this year's end I feel rushed for some vague reason. Is it because the kids are home and I'm hesitant to hole up in my office for too long? Or is it just the feeling that the clock is ticking and time is getting away from me? I don't know. But I do want to take a look at this year's big events, mostly from my personal perspective.

The year started with a bang. While the world was reeling from the Tsumani catastrophe I was revisited by my old health nemesis, urinary tract infections. Why this year? Why the sudden recurrence? It seemed a bad omen to start the new year of 2005 in pain and discomfort.

Then I got for my birthday the absolute best gift ever, a red Corvette convertible, my dream car. Wow, now that was great! Unfortunately, only two months after getting it a woman ran a red light and crashed into it, nearly totalling it. I just can't have anything nice. But it could have been worse. If the impact had been on my driver side door instead of the front wheel I would have been hurt. Incidentally, it happened when I was leaving the doctor's office to make sure my urine was clear of infection.

Then in June I got shingles. Not the best way I can think of to start the summer break with the kids. I did get to the doctor in time to take anti-viral medication to alleviate it and keep it from getting as bad as it could have been without the medicine. But it did keep me indoors and out of the heat and therefore away from getting to some of the garden projects I had planned. Looking back now I can see that it wore me down more than I realized at the time.

Around that same time my dad was diagnosed with melanoma. He was getting several spots cut off his back and was having to repeatedly go and have more cut out. He had to have some lymph nodes removed and that was an ordeal. And since then he's been having to have more spots cut off. This has been ongoing and I know he's worn out from it. I'm a little worn out too.

Then there was Katrina. Although I didn't personally experience any of the destruction or its aftermath I did meet a few survivors who came up here. Whenever something of that magnitude happens we all are affected in more ways than we might realize. A disturbance in the Force, if you will. It reverberates all around us. There is a collective effect on us all, psychologically as much as economically or otherwise. We would be very wrong to try to diminish to importance of this event for us all.

After Katrina there were even more destructive storms that didn't get the amount of news coverage that they would have gotten if Katrina hadn't happened. It was a record breaking hurrincane season with the named storms exceeding the alphabet. The full list of named storms for 2005:

Tropical Storm Arlene
Tropical Storm Bret
Tropical Storm Cindy
Hurricane Dennis
Hurricane Emily
Tropical Storm Franklin
Tropical Storm Gert
Tropical Storm Harvey
Hurricane Irene
Tropical Depression Ten
Tropical Storm Jose
Hurricane Katrina
Tropical Storm Lee
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Nate
Hurricane Ophelia
Hurricane Philippe
Hurricane Rita
Tropical Depression Nineteen
Hurricane Stan
Tropical Storm Tammy
Subtropical Depression Twenty-two
Hurricane Vince
Hurricane Wilma
Tropical Storm Alpha
Hurricane Beta
Tropical Storm Gamma
Tropical Storm Delta
Hurricane Epsilon


This has also been the Year of the Spider. I've had many dreams of spiders, and there have been lots of real spiders too.

And then this year we've been dealing with school issues with my fourth grader. This is the first year that I've had any kind of problems with what's happening at school. I think we've mostly got it worked out, but it has been a big source of stress in this latter third of the year.

And it seems like this last third of the year I've been sick with one thing after another. I had that terrible case of strep throat, and I've caught every virus/bug that has been around. On top of all that I've had several UTIs throughout the year too. I think that getting shingles somehow compromised my immune system so that I'm getting sick all the time. Just my theory, anyway.

And then most recently I ran over the puppy. She's doing okay. We brought her home on Dec. 23. She looks pitiful, but she seems to be getting better. I have had to fight feelings of guilt and regret over the whole thing. It has been just another thing that has kicked my ass this year.

Of course, this year hasn't been all bad. There have been many good things too. I would like to think that somehow I've survived all the bad by trying to keep the good in view. I started this blog this year, and through it I have made some really good friends, even if we haven't ever met face-to-face. This is where I've revealed some of my innermost thoughts and to have people still like me despite those I'm very grateful.

This year has kicked my ass in lots of ways, and I'm a little worn out from it all. I don't want to sound too whiny about it, though, because despite all of that I'm okay. If this had been a few years ago I couldn't have said that. But I really am okay. And that's a big thing for me. As that old saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I've been tested this year, and I think that I am stronger, or at least not weakened by it all (except for my immune system). Nearly everyone I know has been through a really difficult year. This has been the Chinese Year of the Wood Rooster (or Cock, hehehe), The Year of the Big Talk and the Big Reforms. I can't remember where I read it, but I do recall reading that the Year of the Rooster is often marked by lots of difficulties which gives us a lot of potential for growth. That does seem to fit with what has been happening this year, for me at least, more so than the previous few years anyway. Now that I think of it, the last Year of the Rooster was 1993, another difficult year for me.

Well, I suppose I've rambled on too long about it now. I hope we all have a better 2006. So let's all reflect on this year and what we've learned from it and take those lessons with us into next year. No New Year's resolutions for me except for a 'To Do' list of projects I want to complete.

So a Happy and Safe New Year to all!

Where Have I Been?

So what has been keeping me so busy? Well, let's see...

All day Sunday I did laundry. It was time to wash all the bed linens, and I was in the right mood to tackle that task.

Monday- my two older kids and I got a terrible stomach flu that had us all in bed for about 2 days.

Wednesday- I had to force myself to go do some Christmas shopping despite wanting/needing to rest some more.

Thursday- More shopping. It is done now. But I still have a few things to wrap.

Between all of the sickness, shopping, and usual daily tasks I've tried to rest as much as possible.

And the Puppy comes home today! I hope she is going to have an easy re-adjustment (is that redundant?) to home. I will be picking her up this afternoon, but before I do I want to go by the pet supply store and get her a nice, soft, comfy bed.

I hope to post again before Christmas... maybe with some pictures if I can. I hope everyone has had a much better week than I have!

On a side note, today would have been my parents' 44th anniversary.

Puppy Update

The puppy had her surgery on Friday. She's almost 6 months old now so is she still a puppy? Anyway, one side of her pelvis was repaired, but the other was crushed beyond repair. The 'socket' that holds the 'ball' of the femur (thigh bone) was so splintered that there was nothing to fix. Poor little thing. Maybe the car did roll over her after all. *cringes* So the vet basically cut off the 'ball' (femural head, I think he called it). But he said that since she's still young and a small breed then she should still be able to run and play when its healed. He thinks she's going to be just fine. They are keeping her at the office this weekend so they can keep her on pain medicine. I'll probably get to bring her home tomorrow. When we first got her she was named "Lovely" because she has a heart-shaped spot on her side. But as time passed "Lovely" became "Lovey". I still just call both puppies "Poopies." But now I think I'll start calling Lovey "Tough Lovey" or maybe just "Toughy" because she's a tough little thing to have been through all of this.

5 Weird Things...

I've been tagged by suzie. I'm supposed to list five of the weirdest things or habits about me. After consulting with my kids, er, children (smiling for suzie), I've been able to narrow my list.

1. I always have some strange nature-related experiment/observation set up on the bar that separates the kitchen from the breakfast area. Sometimes it's jars of caterpillars and chrysalises/cocoons. Sometimes it's some other bugs in a jar that I'm studying their behavior, etc. Once I had a baby black widow spider in a jar, and I fed it small bugs until it died. (I guess it didn't like confinement. Don't call PETA on me!) And right now I have a kind of terrarium set up with a snail (I named it Gary after Sponge Bob's pet snail) in it. I had two venus flytrap plants that I bought at Walmart and I had set this up to make it as much like their native habitat as possible. In a bowl were some snail shells that the kids had collected months ago. I put some of them in the terrarium as 'decoration'. The next thing I know there's a snail crawling all over the place. I guess they can be dormant for a long time.

2. Despite my lax and casual way of writing here I have strong pet peeves about writing. If I'm reading a 'properly' published article in a magazine, newspaper, or book I get very annoyed by grammatical and spelling errors. The kinds of things that really get to me are the confusion of there and their, whose and who's, it's and its, and so on. But the thing that really drives me insane is when people use "I" as a subject, a la 'do this for him and I.' AAAAAAAHHHHHH! You don't say 'do this for I' do you? I think people get confused by the rule that you are supposed to use 'I' after a form of the verb 'be'. Like, "it is I" or "it was she" and so on. But how hard is it to remember the difference? Editors should know these things. I know I'm totally anal about that. Sorry. But that's a weird thing about me.

3. I like a little (well, maybe a little more than a little) clutter. A completely stark, sterile, and uncluttered space makes me very uncomfortable. I need familiar and favorite things around me. Maybe it's because I'm such a visual person and because I orient myself by my visual environment. If someone moves my stuff it totally screws me up. Eventually, I'll clear out my space to remove the old stuff and start accumulating new stuff. David says that I really am like a mouse the way I'll gather stuff to build my nest.

4. Whether you 'believe' in it or not, I have a certain amount of 'psychic' ability. I just know things sometimes. The older I get the more it happens. Sometimes I think it's just that I'm very perceptive of my surroundings. But isn't that what ESP means anyway? Extra-Sensory Perception? I'm no John Edward or Edgar Cayce though. But finally after living with me for over 14 years David (a big sceptic) has acknowledged that I really do perceive more than the 'average'. Maybe it has to do with variations in individual sensory thresholds or something like that. But my kids think it's pretty weird.

5. And finally, I just like weird stuff. I'm not interested in the 'typical' things that society tells me to be interested in, like oh, I don't even know, stuff like Manolo Blahnik shoes and shows like Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives. Some of the weird stuff I like is somewhat dark and disturbing like Rob Zombie's music and movies. I love House of 1000 Corpses. I have a real definite dark side that I'm not too afraid to shine some light on. I like the Jolly Roger and skeletal images and bugs and snakes and bats and other things that are commonly seen as 'bad.' But I'm not all gothic or anything. Most definitely not because I also love the other extreme of frou-frou stuff like sparkly pretties and fluffy accessories that you'd imagine a typical 13 year old girl might like. My children know that I'm not like most other moms. But maybe I overestimate my weirdness?


Okay, so now "tag" you're IT... (apologies if you've already done this or if you don't want to, no pressure, of course!)

kat

rainypete

kristi

One time at band camp...

pilfered from ddot the king:

RULES

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don't speak often) please post a comment here on my blog with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE. When you're finished leaving your comment, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you. I think this will be fun for all; like a bowl of Skittles and M&M's mixed; a color and a flavor for everyone!

Nice!

Saw this over a kat's. She finds the coolest stuff!





Try it!

Puppy Update

I just got back from the vet's. After they got her more stabilized and doped up with pain medicine they were able to do more x-rays. It turns out that her pelvis is broken in two places. They think it can be repaired, but they wanted to show me the x-rays and make sure that I wanted to spend that much money. Well, I never thought I'd want to spend a lot of money on a pet like this, but I don't really care how much it is. I just want them to fix her up if they can. They said the surgery would be around $600, but I think it's worth it to have her back. Her internal organs seem to be fine, so it's just her bones that are damaged. She looks so sad, and I could tell she was in pain. They will probably do the surgery on Friday. She needs a couple more days to get stronger before having a major surgery like that. Poor little thing. I feel so bad for her.

Lyrics...

I'm taking requests and dedications for the lyrics blog. You can make your request here or there.

Rules of the Road (or just shoot me)

I got to take a quick weekend trip to Durham, NC, to see one of my best friends that I hadn't gotten to go visit for nearly a year. It was great to get away for a little while and not have to worry about taking care of anyone. She spoils her guests so I didn't have to do anything but relax. It was great!

However, it is a long drive there, about 5.5 hours but usually longer for me since I stop at nearly every rest area along the way. But I'm not complaining about getting to spend nearly 12 hours in a Corvette. That was fine with me. And that was part of my relaxation. Except for the idiots on the road.

When will people figure out that 1) getting all up my ass isn't going to make the cars in front of me go faster? Hello, dumbass trying to buy the rear-end of my car, I can't make the people in front of me speed up, and I'm not about to tailgate them to try. So BACK THE HELL OFF! And wait for the flow of traffic to speed up. Your time is no more valuable than anyone else's.

When will people figure out that 2) just because I'm in a Corvette doesn't mean I want to race? Just about every jerk in a suped up Toyota thinks he wants to race me. Sorry, but in case you haven't noticed most people who drive Corvettes are older and more mature and don't need feel the need to demostrate their virility by driving 95-100 mph. I could blow your f*cking doors off if I really wanted to, but I've got the maturity to let you get the speeding ticket. I don't need to prove anything to you.

If I sound a little agitated, well, it's because this morning I ran over one of the kids' puppies. It ran right under the moving car (not the Corvette), and I coudn't stop before it was hit. I'm not sure if she'll make it. She's at the vet and they will call when they know what is wrong and if she can recover. I'm sick over it. I know the kids will be devastated if she dies. What a great way to start the week, eh? Kind of reversed any benefit I got from my weekend trip. Typical.

It's getting extreme....

This whole Christmas and Freedom of Expression issue continues to provoke debate. Please read suzie's post on the Hanging of Santa.

Here is my comment on her post:

Well, it is freedom of expression, but so is pornography which we have deemed unsuitable for children. People should be more sensitive on BOTH sides of that issue. A gagged (blindfolded, actually, but same difference) and hanging Santa could be considered harmful to children in the same way that certain books, films, games, etc. are. How are parents supposed to protect their children from violent displays if there are no regulations? Yes, we have Freedom of Speech, but it is regulated to protect certain groups. There are laws about not placing Adult stores, liquor stores, etc. within certain proximity to Schools, Day Cares, Churches, etc.

As for paint color and grass height, there are MANY neighborhood associations that regulate those things and fine homeowners for violations.

I have never seen a Halloween lawn display that is this gruesome/offensive. Not that there haven't been somewhere, but most people are more considerate of others than to do that. When exercising our Freedom of Expression we HAVE to be more considerate of other people, esp. children.

If my neighbor did this I'd go over and ask him nicely to take it down because it is too violent for my kids. Do you think that most cities would allow a billboard with this picture on it?

Again, I find it ironic that it's the same people who find this offensive (borrowed kristi's link to this picture- I'm not picking on kristi here)


















but not this (borrowed suzie's picture)











who are the first to cite First Amendment rights of free expression to defend their offensive actions. The Freedom of Expression is not a free pass to say or do anything you want regardless of the consequences.

Would we tolerate a person passing out pictures to our children with this image? Do the people who have no problem with the Hanging Santa have a problem with pictures of aborted babies that protestors carry around? Do people not care about how things affect children?

Look-Alikes

Sometimes Brit Hume looks so sad. I can't find a picture that shows just how droopy he looks sometimes, but don't you think he resembles Droopy Dog? Do you think he needs a hug?

Recycling...

I've decided to delete my aol journal, but I'm recycling some of the entries first. Here is my 'review' of Star Wars Episode 3 from May 29. Not that it was all that great, but I didn't want it to be sent to internet oblivion just yet.



Speaking of Star Wars

I might as well see if I can put down my thougths about it. I loved it, of course. I've loved all of them. I'll start with listing my favorite parts.

R2D2 totally kicked ass! He was always my favorite and to see him in his prime was just the best. LOVED IT when he jumped around and stuff. Very cool.

Haden C. was totally HOT, HOT, HOT, especially in the shirtless scene. Thank you George Lucas for not cutting the gratuitous eye candy scene. And he has that evil, angry look down pat. What a hottie. But I did find myself feeling a little like a dirty old woman drooling over him. How old is he anyway?

I always wondered how the Emperor's face got all messed up. I was glad to see that it was shown.

The flying lizard thing that Obiwan rode was very cool. I do believe that many of the dinosaur species that didn't go extinct evolved into birds. Not every single dinosaur was killed by the comet or whatever that hit the earth. There have been fossils found that have shown 'dinosaurs' with feathers. I really like it when that kind of thing is incorporated into movies.

Likewise, Gen. Grievous was cool. I liked that he was an 'organic droid' with organs and stuff. I was going to be bothered by his coughing if it hadn't been shown that he had organic insides.

Now, moving to things that I didn't like that much. Natalie Portman, please, stop it with the lip collagen. You don't need it. Bleck. And what was with that crazy outfit that she was trying to sleep in (same scene as the shirtless Anakin)? No one could sleep like that. And the pregnant belly seemed to constantly be changing in size, shape, and location. And not in a natural way. I really hate when they make pregnancy look so fake. Oh well. I guess they have to scrimp on the budget somewhere. And what was with that delivery scene? With all their technology didn't they have any pain relief? Sorry to focus all my complaints on Padme, but that was the weakest part of the movie.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure there is more, but I had a big distraction throughout the movie with [my four year old at the time] squirming and talking and whining about 'where's Dark Fighter*?' I will definitely have to go see it again.


*'Dark Fighter' was what he called Darth Vader.

The previous post was His variation of Rock a Bye Baby...

"...when the tree breaks the baby will fall and get messed up and made into a robot..."

We did just see Star Wars on Friday night. I guess through all of his whining and fidgeting he did get the point about Darth Vader at the end. Ah, the mind of a four year old. Amazing.

What a Surprise!

You scored as Penis. You are attracted to the: penis. You are a penis man/woman. Penis 100% Boobs 58% Face 58% Abs/Stomach 42% Butt 33% What Body Part Are You Attracted To?(pics) created with QuizFarm.com

True enough....

saw this quiz over at kat's:


you're the midnight fariy
always gazing at the stars wondering how the world
can be made better


What kind of fairy are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Did you know?

(this is from a forwarded email)

As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view ... it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments.

As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.

As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments.

There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.

Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.

Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law. An oligarchy .... the rule of few over many.

How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and un-Constitutional?

Bad Blogger! (and a Constitutional Study)

Man, I've been a bad blogger the last couple of weeks with all the sickness going around (and now I've caught a freakin' cold) and holiday busy-ness. I've de-volved all the way back to a multicellular organism. Damn. I was an amphibian before Thanksgiving. Maybe I need to slather that Lip Explosion all over and see what happens. Maybe it would turn me into some kind of super-species. Maybe not.

I'm sorry that I've gotten behind on reading and commenting on all my favorite blogs. I will try to catch up this weekend. And I thought of a good post to work on. Fox and Friends were talking about the Separation of Church and State and how so many people don't understand what that really means. Well, I might as well go ahead and say what I was thinking since I'm here anyway.

Here's what the Constitution says:

Article I (First Amendment)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

We have to remember that our founding fathers were reacting to England's struggles with the establishment of an 'official' religion. There was tremendous persecution done on behalf of religious differences. This was one of the main reasons that the colonists came here. This is why this issue is put first in the First Amendment. It was that important. It still is.

Let's look at what it says exactly. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." What that means is that there will be no law that establishes an National Religion of any kind. What it does not mean is that there can't be laws that respect religious establishments. But to hear some people talk you'd think that's what they think it means. They are totally misreading it. They want to think it means that the government can't have any religious expressions. But that's NOT what it says. People who object to "In God We Trust" on our money and "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and any other phrase that mentions God or any other religious concept are actually VIOLATING the First Amendment. They want to conveniently forget that "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" part. Hello? Free exercise thereof. That means that I have every right to say Christmas, and so does my kids' school and the courthouse and any other person or place that wants to. Calling a decorated tree in a government building a 'Christmas tree' is NOT establishing a religion. It is only the free exercise thereof.

I know some people will say, "Oh, but what about other religions? Why can't they have whatever to celebrate their holidays? If you have a Christmas tree then you should have a Hanukkah tree or whatever too." Well, no one is stopping someone from doing that if they really want it. If you have a town that is mostly Jewish then they would probably focus on their own traditions. If a Christian minority there felt left out then they could do something of their own. Big deal. With freedom comes the responsibility to respect other views. That's what the whole First Amendment is about anyway. And that applies equally to atheists, fundamentalists, and everyone else. If someone is offended by a Christmas tree then they need to reread their history and the Constitution.

Our founding fathers were very spiritual people. They believed in God, and they believed that Divine Providence guided them in creating our nation. People need to go back and reread the Declaration of Independence. For your convenience here are the first two and the last paragraphs:

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

...

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

There is a lot of mention of God in there. In today's political environment if we were trying to establish our Independence from Britain it would never happen because of all the dumbasses who can't understand plain English and who refuse to try. That really scares me and bothers me.

File under WTF???

Lip Explosion. Yeah, that's right. Lip explosion. I was watching Animal Planet (about man eating tigers, btw) while eating lunch and this commercial came on. Sorry, but whoever named that product needs to get kicked hard in the nuts (and fed to the tigers). In fact, whoever invented that product needs to get kicked hard in the nuts (and fed to the tigers). I'm not about to spend $29.95 to explode my lips. Since when did the just-punched-in-the-mouth look become so desirable?

And with Christmas coming up I'm sure the parents of little girls everywhere are hearing pleas for Bratz Dolls and their many accessories. I've discouraged those and the My Scene Barbies. I grew up playing with Barbies and don't have such an issue with them. But these Bratz and My Scene dolls are ridiculous. I don't want my daughter growing up thinking that she's supposed to have giant, artificially puffed up lips and eyes that look like a really bad facelift. It's bad enough with the traditional Barbies and girls thinking that they are supposed to have giant, artificially puffed up breasts. Whenever we see these weird-looking dolls I mention how creepy they are. But they do make really cute accessories for them though. And at least the Bratz make big feet fashionable.

Regardless, it's just another example of the ideal female form being decided and promoted by some queers in design and marketing departments somewhere. No offense to gays. But I don't agree with the image of femininity that gay men prefer. They seem to want all women to look like drag queens. Sorry, but a real woman doesn't need all that artificial stuff (that a drag queen needs) to look feminine and pretty. And real women have curves that drag queens don't naturally have.

This is my rebellion. I am the younger of two daughters. Traditionally, the baby of the family is the rebel. Much of our lives my sister and I had the opposite roles from the usual birth order stuff. She was the rebel. But now I've found myself living a more rebellious life than she. I don't conform to many of society's expectations. I'm keeping my gray hair. I'm not getting cosmetic surgery. I'm not obsessed with my figure. And I have no desire for lips that look like I've been on the business end of a fist. I'm not injecting a toxic poison into my skin to paralyze my expression lines. I'm not getting silicone balloons put into my chest. I'm not having a huge needle jabbed under my skin to suck out the fat. I'm not having my eyes lasered so I don't have to wear glasses. I'm not bleaching my teeth down to the dentin so that they glow blue-white in the dark. I'm not interested in getting fake nails glued onto my short, real nails. If that makes me a freak then I'll just be a freak.

Because You Asked...

Here are some of the first answers. Keep the questions coming...


Mr g asked: "If the Jews really have all the money, where the hell is my share? I'm feeling left out."

Mr g, are you sure you are really Jewish? I've always thought that you were my long lost brother. And that would make you poor White Trash. lol

Chris asked: "Why can't I think of anything naughty to ask you? ;)"

Chris, maybe you don't really want to know. lol

Kristi asked: "Why is it when I go on a diet, only my husband loses weight?"

Kristi, they sabotage us. They don't want us to look too good because they are insecure.

Kat asked: "Why do I only like my husband when he isn't here?"

Kat, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Sylvana asked: "Why do I always get the 12 letter+ all smushed up word verifications?"

Sylvana, me too! I think blogger likes to play with us that way. Oh, and the pump is broken on the washer. This is the third time it's happened.

Nick Danger asked: "What was the original purpose intended for rubber bands?"

Nick, my first thought was that they were invented to hold those sheep intestine condoms on better, but then I looked it up. Here's what I found...

On March 17, 1845, Stephen Perry of the rubber manufacturing company Messers Perry and Co, Rubber Co Manuf London patented the fist rubber bands made of vulcanized rubber. Perry invented the rubber band to hold papers or envelopes together. (taken from http://www.versteegde.nl/Bambustic/RubberBands/)

Monday Misc.

We had a good Thanksgiving. I'll write more about that soon. But today I'm just putting down some random thoughts.

1. Why doesn't Saddam Hussein wear one of those head dresses like the others on trial with him?

2. My washer is broken again.

3. My throat is getting sore again.

4. A friend was here on Saturday and started singing 'Cherry Pie' by Warrant when she saw one of my plates with a cherry pattern. Not 5 minutes later that song came on the radio. Freaky.

5. Ask me anything. Really. I got the idea from FoxNews. They have a segment called 'Because You Asked.' I will answer any questions fully and honestly to the best of my ability.

Hehehe....

You Are Pumpkin Pie

Even when people are full - they make room for you. Good or bad, your smell is most likely to arouse a man.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Well, I never have liked pumpkin pie, but I guess it's okay to be one.

For the Holiday...

We're having the big dinner at our house this year. David's looking forward to wowing everyone with his prowess in the kitchen. I'm looking forward to playing hostess. Ask me Friday if I want to do it again. I hope everyone has a great holiday with plenty of good food and fine fellowship (if that's what you want). Safe travels and happy bellies!

Post #250

I'm not sure if that's noteworthy, but hey, there it is. The content of this post is in no way historical or significant. I would love to have posted something terribly interesting and exceedingly witty. Oh, and by the way, Stephen King, in his book On Writing says that adverbs should be nonexistent. He says that you should be able to find one word that expresses the thought of two (an adverb that modifies a verb or an adjective). So instead of writing 'terribly interesting' I should have said 'fascinating' or 'captivating' or 'riveting' or 'gripping' (ooh, grip is a sexy word). And instead of saying 'exceedingly witty' I should have said 'clever' or 'cerebral' or 'sublime'. I suppose King has a point, but I like adverbs. I don't think we should eliminate an entire class of words. That's just wrong. I know that modern writers generally (adverb) try to be economical and not be too (redundant) wordy. This is the day of limited text space so we make shortcuts any way we know how, just to be able (redundant phrase but I'm leaving it for emphasis on the 'able' part) to express our full thoughts in as little space as possible. Well, not me. I'm wordy and proud of it. Give me plenty of space to ramble on and on from one tangent to another. And allow me to use as many redundant and/or trite words as I think it takes to make my point. This is the land of big giant and little tiny and anything that ends in -ly. I love words. If one's good then two's better. And so on. Some things are worth more when they are freely (redundant adverb) given. And obviously (adverb), I love parentheticals too (every little bit of extra explanation helps).

Parlez vous français?

I don't really, but you surely didn't think I'd keep my mouth shut about France and their breakdown. I've never been one to discriminate against or be prejudiced about entire countries or ethnic groups. I just wasn't brought up that way. The only time I start to examine the flaws of someone is when they begin to dissect mine. I'm a live-and-let-live kind of gal. I never really paid much attention to France or the French because they just weren't part of my existence. Pretty much the only French people I'd seen much of were figure skaters. And quite honestly, they didn't impress me much.

There was Surya Bonaly. In the 1994 World Championships she thought she was robbed of a gold medal, so she showed defiance by standing beside the medals platform rather than standing on it. Then Bonaly was coaxed into standing on it, but she removed her medal immediately after being presented with it, to everyone's shock and disapproval. She also rebelled by doing an illegal jump in her program. She was a spoiled, rotten brat.

And then there was Philippe Candeloro. They always talked about how popular he was with the ladies, but I always thought he looked kind of sleazy and stinky, kind of like Pepe Le Peu or something but worse. He was a good skater, just like Bonaly, but they both suffered from excess ego and inconsistent performances. Sounds pretty French to me.

Apparently, to hear the French tell it, setting cars on fire is a national passtime. Well, how can they accuse us Americans of being wasteful? There are many other blogs and articles with much better thought-out and detailed explanations as to why France has lost all of its credibility. But frankly, I never really thought they had much to begin with. They certainly did their share to help us back in the day when we were establishing our independence from England, but even then it was because they thought it was in their best interests.

I do love the Statue of Liberty though, what a lovely gift.

Parental Issues

Well, I've had my sickness induced raunchy fun this week, but it's time to turn to the serious. With all of the Supreme Court nominations and talk these days the abortion issue has become hot again. I don't think that anything I, or anyone else, says is going to make any difference to 95% of the people who have decided one way or the other. The only thing that will change most people's minds on this issue is experience. That being said, I'm still going to say my piece.

When I was much younger and the hypothetical possibility of an unplanned pregnancy was real I was 'pro-choice'. I didn't want anyone telling me what I could do with my body. I was young and selfish and impetuous in my views of the world and how I fit into it. Parental consent was an unknown term to me. If I was going to do something, I was going to do it, usually without my parents knowing anything about it. I never got into any kind of trouble when I was a teenager. I didn't drink or do drugs, but I did like sex. But as far as my parents knew I was still a virginal innocent when I went off to college. At the age of 17 and a half I had a pregnancy scare that they never had a clue about. (I hope my dad never reads this.) I went to one of those pregnancy crisis centers for a free test which they told me was positive. They made me sit through a couple of scary anti-abortion videos before I left. My boyfriend gave me the money for an abortion, and I was 98% sure I was going to go through with it. That other 2% was my conscience telling me that I really didn't want to kill a baby. I was thinking that maybe I could go live with my grandmother in tiny, rural Wartburg, TN, to finish school and have the baby (this was a time when it was still mostly unheard of for pregnant girls to be in school because of the stigma of being an unwed mother; some places even kicked pregnant girls out of school). Well, as it turned out, I wasn't really pregnant and got my period a couple of days later. I suspect that the pregnancy center lied to me about the positive result to put a good scare into me. I gave my boyfriend the money back, and we broke up shortly after that.

My views throughout college remained much the same. I never had another pregnancy scare though. And a couple of girls at college got pregnant and rebelliously decided to be single moms. I say 'rebelliously' because it was still not considered 'appropriate' for young, educated women to have babies out of wedlock. But you have to give them the credit of having the courage to face the consequences of their behavior and not taking the easy way out by having an abortion. In some small way their willingness to accept their responsibilities began my turn to my current position.

This is getting long and away from where I was intending to go, so I'll jump back to my main subject of parental issues.

This morning on FoxNews they were talking about the 'parental consent' issue with abortion. How can anyone argue against parental consent? Oh, there was a guy (sorry I don't remember who) that was throwing around 'incest' and 'abuse' and other inflammatory words to suggest that parental consent laws would put some girls in danger. Bah Humbug! There are already plenty of laws and agencies out there that are supposed to deal with those issues. My problem with these idiots, like this guy, who say that parental consent laws infringe on someone's rights is that they are really the ones who are hurting kids and parents. He even said, when asked 'what about a 14 year old', that well, yeah, that's different from a 17 and a half year old. Excuse me? Do we sell cigarettes to 17.5 year olds or let them vote, just because they are 'practically' 18? NO! I HATE that kind of inconsistency.

Now let me jump over to another subject that is related in some ways. That 18 year old boy who killed his 14 year old girlfriend's parents apparently grew up in a home full of guns. All of the Second Amendment haters are going to jump all over that, and some will probably try to insist that his parents be held in some way responsible for what happened. Bullshit. The dude is 18. The same people who are against parental consent for abortions are all for blaming parents for their child using a gun in a crime. Even when that child is legally an adult.

Okay, so this is what's wrong. By denying parents the power to decide what kind of medical treatment their daughter can get these 'liberals' are setting up a very slippery slope of taking away what parental authority and/or responsibility there is left. If my child breaks his arm at school they have to have my consent to have it treated. We have to sign papers at the beginning of every school year giving our consent for the school to act in an emergency. You'd think that would be common sense, but in today's litigious environment we have to sign papers for everything for our own and for the school's legal protection. If the doctors have to have my consent to fix a broken arm, they better damn well have to have my consent to do any other kind of medical procedure, including an abortion.

Saying that my 17.5 year old daughter is exempt from getting my consent for an abortion but not for getting her broken arm fixed is ridiculous. These people can't have it both ways. If you take away the parents' rights then you can't turn around and blame them for the problems that their kids get into. You just can't have it both ways. It's just like with the death penalty. To most liberals it's quite alright for a women to kill a baby in her body just because it is inconvenient for her to have it, but it's morally wrong to execute a murderer, even a child murderer like that Smith guy in Florida. PEOPLE!! Get it straight. Be consistent. Make sense.


(The point of my sharing my pregnancy scare story was to show that I know exactly how teenage girls think about this issue. They don't want to face the serious consequences of their actions. They want to take the easiest way out. They don't want to have to tell their parents that they are in trouble. I know that. I've been there. But I also know that their reasoning is flawed and immature, and that's why they are still considered children and under the 'control' of their parents.)

Ongoing Saga...

Okay, so I went back to the doctor last night because my throat was clearly not getting better. The doctor this time was pretty young and quite attractive. I think he was probably about my age since he had about as much gray as I do, but I'm terrible at judging age. He seemed younger than me, and I wanted to ask him how old he was but that just seemed... wrong. In the company of very attractive guys sometimes the speech center in my brain turns to mush and my tongue gets tied in knots so that I have trouble finding the words to say what I'm thinking. And I didn't want to sound rude by just blurting out, 'hey how old are you anyway?' So anyway, he looks at my throat and says, "Your uvula is blistered." Imagine the thought bubble over my head: Oh, but honey, my vulva's not blistered, you wanna check it? I obviously would not have actually said that. LOL

He prescribed a new, broader spectrum antibiotic and said that they would give me a cortisone shot to help with the swelling and inflammation to make me more comfortable. I asked where they would give the shot and he said in the hip. Oh joy, but I was thinking that it would be okay for him to see me bent bare-bottomed over the exam table. Unfortunately, he was spared that sight since the nurse gave the shot. Well, he wouldn't have given me a second look if he wasn't getting paid to, so I shouldn't have imagined that he'd want to take a peek at my nekkid butt. The nurse said that the medicine was thick, which means that it might burn a lot going in. I took a deep breath expecting a bad sting, but it didn't hurt at all. Some nurses are really good at giving painless shots. So I pulled up my pants and got my stuff and left. Dr. Hottie said 'bye and hope you feel better soon.' I just said, "Thanks." But you can imagine what I was thinking....

Sick Thoughts

I'm still feeling like crap. This is the worst case of strep throat that I remember ever having. It probably hasn't helped that yesterday I over-exerted myself trying to get some urgent errands taken care of. I can't eat. My throat is still so sore and raw that even a banana makes it burn like salt in a deep cut. But all this trying to rest and watch tv is getting old. When I find myself talking back to the people on tv I know it's time for a little blogging. So here are a few of my sickness induced thoughts.

TennCare

I'm still going to do a long, in-depth post about this monstrosity at some later time, but I just heard on the news that they are going to start paying for obese TennCare enrollees to go to Weight Watchers. WTF?? Oh, they say it's to try to reduce medical expenses caused by obesity, but come on. It's not like Weight Watchers is too expensive for someone to pay for out of their own pocket if they are really that motivated to lose weight. My mom was a lifelong member. She was never obese, but she didn't like the middle age spread. The cost was never an issue except that it was a bit of an incentive to actually stick with the program since she was paying for it. The fees to join and for the weekly meetings cost less than what most of those people probably spend on beer, cigarettes, potato chips, cookies, or whatever. BTW, TennCare, if you aren't familiar, replaced Medicaid here in 1994 and has bankrupted the state. It was designed after Hillary's healthcare plan.

More Crazy Math

My fourth grader was home sick with strep on Friday. He's all better now, but he has been working on his make-up work. He was doing a math worksheet and asked me to help him. The name of the worksheet was something like "Problem-solving: Guess and Check." He didn't have his math textbook so I couldn't look up what this 'guess and check' method was. One of the questions was something like this: There are two numbers. One is 9 more than the other. Their sum is 45. But it wasn't worded that simply. They used about 6 or 7 sentences to say that. Anyway, you were supposed to use this 'guess and check' technique to find an answer. I told him, "I'm sorry I have no idea what they want with this, go ask Daddy." (I love to say that sometimes, "go ask Daddy," parental buck-passing, lol) I don't know what they decided with it. I'm too sick and tired to think too much about it right now.

Kiss Me Deadly

I love to listen to Jack FM. You can even listen to it online . What I like about it is that it's like someone broke into my house and took all my 'dream' compilation cds. Or they've hijacked my napster playlists or something. I'd say at least 80% of what they play I really love. That's impressive to me. Anyway, I've been listening to it since it started here a few weeks ago. I haven't heard a lot of repeats, though there are a few. One in particular puzzles me. It's Lita Ford's 1988 hit "Kiss Me Deadly". That was never one of my favorites back then, and now it just kind of amuses and perplexes me. I never understood why you would want someone to kiss you deadly. Wouldn't it have made more sense to say, "Kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me deeply"? I guess that just doesn't have the same heavy/fluff metal ring to it. Maybe it means something like 'kiss me so that I feel like I've died and gone to Heaven'?

Deadly= Died and gone to Heaven

Well, yeah, I'd say according to today's math that's a true enough statement.

Anyway, right now kissing anyone might be deadly with this horrible, extreme case of strep throat. Hearing that song several times over that last week or so might have been some kind of sign foretelling that I was going to get this deadly feeling in my throat. I told David last night that it felt like I had that flesh eating disease. I took a flashlight and looked at it, and my uvula (not to be confused with vulva) looked like cauliflower. Not real appealing, eh?

Oh, come on, kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me deadly! (hey, I did call this post 'Sick Thoughts')

"Out Sick"

Blogging will probably be pretty light this week. I've got a real bad case of strep throat and am not up to much of anything. I hope everyone else is well and has a great week. To quote everyone's favorite cyborg:

I'll be back.

Miscellaneous

There's a blog I read that pushes my ability to comprehend things sometimes. But today there's a post that really hits home for me. If you are concerned about education and the strange direction that it seems to be taking in many subjects, especially math, then you might appreciate this one:

Math Wars


And for a great piece of political satire, try this:

Letter to France


And one of the funniest things I've EVER seen! Tayster always finds the funniest stuff:

I LOVE William Shatner

And another from tayster's world (this one is perfect for this blog):

What's a Hoe?


It seems many of the bloggers I regularly read are really busy lately. I am too. I'm repainting my living room, finally.

Oh, and a little update on the doctor's office and collections issue. I had decided to go ahead and send the stupid $49.50 check to the collection agency and just forget the whole thing. Well, yesterday it came back in the mail with a note that the doctor's office had requested that the account be closed and any further contact should be directly with them instead of the collection agency. Maybe I should take them off my shit list now? (the 'Bad Seeds, Noxious Weeds, and Pitch Forks' list on the sidebar) Either way, I'm not doing business with them again.

This is funny.

My AOL Horoscope for today:

You Aquarians bring awareness to others to shake up your world now. Even if this isn't your conscious intent, people respond to you today as if you are shocking them with doses of electricity. Be extra cautious and careful or you can quickly stir up too much energy. Your real assignment is to initiate change and make improvements without alarming those around you.


For some reason that cracks me up.

Whisker Biscuits and stuff

On our little roadtrip to Corvette and cave country in Kentucky we saw lots of funny things. One was Interstate "Peep" shows. We didn't go to one, but I did ask David if he wanted to since he kept mentioning them every time we saw a billboard advertising them. I had never seen that kind of thing advertised on billboards. But this was Kentucky.

Then another day we were driving on a 'back' road and I needed to find a bathroom. We stopped at a convenience store. While in the restroom I noticed one of those condom machines hanging on the wall. The sign on it said, "Gentleman's Love Kits." Well, I'd never tried one of those machines before so I figured what the heck. I put my two quarters in it and turned the knob fully expecting nothing to come out. But what did was this:













I might have laughed out loud because when I came out of the restroom the cashier looked at me funny. Maybe they had a hidden camera in there and he saw me get it out of the machine. Or it could have been the mischievous smirk on my face. But when I got to the car I showed it to David and started laughing. I don't think he knew what to think.

I didn't open it. I just put it in my purse and forgot about it. Then the other day I was looking for my lip gloss and found it again. I mashed around on it to try to feel if there was actually something in the box. It felt like a tiny balloon in there.

So this morning I decided to open it and see what exactly it was:









Yeah, that's right, some love kit, huh? If any of us needs a finger condom (blech) then we're covered. But that's the only thing it would cover. I find the whole thing totally hilarious.

Then on Sunday morning in the hotel David turned on the tv and was watching a hunting show. I heard something that I couldn't believe I was hearing. They were talking about "Whisker Biscuits." Excuse me? Did they just say Whisker Biscuits? David just laughed and said yeah, they are arrow rests for bow hunting. If you click that link you can see pictures of several varieties of Whisker Biscuits, and you'll see that they come in different sizes...

Biscuit Size Selection:
Small: Easton ACC, Axis, Slim Carbons and Aluminum shafts up to size 1816
Medium: Carbon shafts with internal components and aluminum shafts 2013 - 2117
Large: Easton Fat Boy and aluminum shafts 2212 - 2317.

Here is the Deluxe Whisker Biscuit QS:

"The Deluxe Whisker Biscuit Arrow Rest® is now available with a factory installed Quick Shot Kit. The Quick Shot biscuit will compliment any bow but is perfectly suited to enhance an expandable broadhead setup. The entry slot is tapered to allow quick and easy arrow loading while preventing brush snags when stalking or walking to your stand. The sturdy design means your biscuit will not be bent or twisted and gives you the confidence to know your shot will always be on target! Optional stick-on felt pads are provided for silent arrow loading."












Now, I know nobody wants a twisted or bent biscuit, right? Especially, not their whisker biscuit.

Important Links!

Here are some very important links for parents, grandparents, or anyone who is concerned for children's safety:

http://www.familywatchdog.us/Search.asp Enter your address and get a map of any sex offenders in your area.

http://www.ticic.state.tn.us/SEX_ofndr/search_short.asp This is the official State of Tennessee site that allows you to search by offender's name, city, county, or zip code.

Brief thoughts...

As opposed to boxer thoughts. Sorry that was really lame.

1. I like Camilla. Why does everyone have to be so mean? So what if she's not a beauty queen? Diana was pretty screwed up, and it just goes to show that outer beauty doesn't guarantee happiness.

2. Check out the hilarious pick-up lines over at suzie's. I don't think I've ever heard any of those. Actually, I can't think of any pick-up lines that I've heard. I'm a little disappointed about that. I don't usually attract that kind of attention when I'm out.

3. I've got to get a bunch of stuff done today. Everyone have a great Friday and weekend!

Magic Carpet Ride

Usually at night, after everyone else has settled into bed, I go into my 'secret room' and listen to music and write or work on artwork. Usually I'll start with the radio to see if anything good is playing. If not, I'll put on a cd. Last night I turned on the radio and the first song I heard was "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty ('last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain'). I thought that was interesting. Then Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" came on. I thought, 'What a funny sequence of songs.' I'm posting those lyrics on the lyrics blog because I really like them even though I never really paid much attention to them before. And then ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin'" came on, and that one just cracked me up. It's just so 80s, you know? But I have to confess that when those ZZ Top videos came out I wanted to grow up and be one of those trashy girls. Obviously, that didn't happen.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any funnier Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" came on. When I heard 'Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp' I thought, 'wow, whoever put all these songs together is funny.' I have to say that "Pour Some Sugar" is probably one of the most pornographic songs that's been widely popular. 'I'm hot, sticky sweet'? That's nasty! 'You gotta tease a little, squeeze a little, tease a little more'? Whoa! 'You got the peaches, I got the cream'? That sounds like a scene out of 9 1/2 Weeks. Nasty, nasty, nasty! But I love it! LOL Talk about a magic carpet ride. Then "Magic" by the Cars came on. 'I know you're getting twisted And you can't calm down'? Yeah, really. I had about as much as I could take so I decided to put on a nice soothing cd so I'd be able to get to sleep later.

Who comes up with those playlists anyway?

Comet the Spider

Have you ever watched a spider run across an entire room? They run, run, run just as fast as their eight little legs will go. But they'll only go a few feet and then stop for a few seconds and then take off again. Don't you think they are stopping to catch their breath? Surely bugs and spiders have metabolic limits like we do. And I wonder if that metabolic threshold varies by individual like ours do. Sometimes you can see bugs breathing if you watch their abdomens. They expand and contract just like ours do when we breathe. I've never noticed the way spiders breathe though.

I've been dreaming about spiders so much this whole year. And especially in the last few months I've dreamed about this same spider. I missed my 'extra hour' of sleep on Saturday night because I was dreaming about this spider and woke up because it surprised me by jumping on me in the dream. I actually screamed out loud (and woke up David too, but he fell back to sleep). The clock said about 5:30 am, but it was really an hour earlier because I hadn't reset the clocks yet. I couldn't get back to sleep so I just got up and made some coffee and watched tv.

In that dream this spider had built a huge web all across the living room ceiling. Every time I came into the room it would run towards me, like it recognized me. This had been happening in some previous dreams. In this one someone (can't remember who now) was there with me, and I was telling them about this spider's behavior. I was telling them that I've named it 'Comet' because it runs so fast, and that is when it jumped on me. I don't think I screamed from fear but from surprise.

Then Monday night I dreamed about Comet and three other spiders. Comet is a large orb weaver. One of the other spiders was just like him but a little smaller. The other two were writing spiders. They were fighting, and it looked like Comet and his friend were winning. But it was hard to tell. And they were hissing, but I think that is purely fictional. There may be hissing spiders somewhere in the world, but I've never seen or heard one hissing in 'person'. I can't remember any more of that particular dream.

I told David about it, but he said it doesn't mean anything. I just can't accept that. I've been dreaming about spiders all year, and this is something new. I just don't believe that it means nothing. The dreams have escalated in intensity and in the spiders' proximity to me. I've looked up in some 'dream dictionaries' what spider dreams might mean, but I'm not sure those meaning apply to me. I wish I could tell Carl Jung about it and see what he would say.

What's Your Design Style?

This is a fun little quiz from Thomasville furniture:

http://www.classictastemodernlife.com/

My result:



Your Design Definition is "romantic". In your home, you love to surround yourself with antiques, books, pieces that bring back memories and lots of black-and-white photos of family. Your tub has feet and your bed has four posters. Your favorite part of preparing for a dinner party is mixing pieces from your different china sets and lighting all the candles. When you travel, you like to stay in bed-and-breakfasts or small inns, and you always find the perfect, out-of-the-way restaurant that is tourist-free. Work with your Thomasville associate to discover pieces in the Ernest Hemingway(R) Collection from Thomasville that reflect the old-world European romance of Paris and Venice. The elaborate carvings and decorative metals on these pieces will add a touch of whimsy and romance to any room.



But actually, I would describe my style as more eclectic or even exotic. That bed in the picture looks a little too 'delicate' to me. Good for sleeping maybe, but well, you know. Here's one that I like better from the same Ernest Hemingway collection:



I'm not really into too much frou-frou in most rooms. But I do love touches of crystal in unexpected places and mixing old and new.

Just Listed!

I've just listed my blog on blogshares. There's a link on the sidebar just under the TTLB Ecosystem stuff. Honestly, I'm not sure what it all means, but it did recommend that my blog is a good buy right now. Go figure. LOL