Relative morality....

Apparently justice is not blind....it can be slanted any which way you want it to be.

A Wisconsin man was arrested today, probably on charges of homicide....but they're not sure yet. He is accused of slipping his girlfriend the abortion pill twice, causing her to miscarry twice in the past year. And while I do believe that is murder, is it still murder to take the drug when you are the mother instead of the father?

Ah, the lines of misconstrued morality. It's all relative.....it all depends on if you are the correct parent I guess.

Sad.

I am sorry for the mother of the two lost children....and I am sorry for our culture that places such weirdly ruled value on those children.



p.s. Our mail was stolen yesterday and found in an abandoned house. The police brought it here to our house this morning. It's kind of strange, not knowing what was stolen, if anything.

Cone head

I put the cone collar on my dog tonight so we could go to church and she just stood there in her crate. Her head slowly went down until the wide part of the cone was on the floor. Then she just stood there like that. It was like a Mummenschanz performance. It looked so funny, but we didn't laugh out loud because she was so dejectified. So I dropped off the kids at church and came home to sit with the dog.

Pitiful...

Wordless Wednesday: Gingerbread guys

This is a pic of some gingerbread guys my kids decorated a few years ago.

If you look closely you'll see pirates, Jamaican dancers, clown, santa, Nate Sallie in a tux, Spiderman, karate guy, creature from the black lagoon, naked guy (he must be from Gilmore Girls) and bikini girl. They had a blast doing this.



***To see more entries or to join in and do your own, go to Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom.***

Dog in Recovery

Maisy is doing just fine....although she looks miserable, poor kid. I picked her up at the mobile spay/neuter clinic, where they reported that she had been 'very sweet'. I'm glad she didn't turn into an 8 pound raving lunatic or something. heh

It is very sad though. She is all blank stare eyed, trembly bodied and quite indecisive about where she wants to lie down. She lies on the floor in a nest we made for 30 minutes, then stands up and sways back and forth while eying you to lift her onto the couch, where she stays for about 30 minutes, then wants her crate. She can't shake her fur out, so her face fur is all mushed down and makes her nose look very pointy, like some character out of Ratatouie. *shudder* Oh, and she will really be happy tonight, I'm sure, when we have to put the protective collar on her. oiy

So....thank you for worrying with me. You may now return to your regularly scheduled internet surfing.

Wishing it was Wednesday....

I have so much to write about from the past week, but very little time to myself lately, so it will have to wait. I will still try my best to post something each day, at least M-F, but I don't know how entertaining it will be....cuz I am tired! Now I have only one hour left of Monday, so I'd better get this post up!

The main thing on my mind tonight is that my little pup is going under the knife tomorrow morning. She's getting spayed. It is worrying me beyond reason. She knows something is up too....very intuitive. We all keep hugging her and tonight I was carrying her around and got out her leash and vaccination papers and she wanted down. She went straight to her crate for bed. I usually have to coerce her into it with a dog treat, but tonight she climbed in without even being told it was bed time, to escape some kind of doom it seemed. (and no treat because she couldn't eat tonight after 7pm, so that probably hurt her dog feelings)

I wish it was Wednesday tomorrow instead of Tuesday.....then it would be over.

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

~Author Unknown



Thankfulness is not something God gives us.
It is not a spiritual gift and it is not a spiritual fruit. 
We can receive God's peace, joy and love,
but thankfulness is something that we give to God 
and to others.
It is a choice that we make. Let us thank Him today with songs of celebration, 
hearts of strong devotion and acts of admiration." 
[Roy Lessin]




Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare.
They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes.
This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck

A week of gratefulness

Let us remember that, as much has been given us,
much will be expected from us,
and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips,
and shows itself in deeds.
~Theodore Roosevelt

It's been an interesting week for me. One that made me thankful for a lot of things I take for granted.

On Friday night we went miniature golfing with Ed and Cheryl at Castles and Coasters. It was really fun to be out with them and feeling that bond of friendship. It seems like we are so busy with life these days that we don't really LIVE it.....we are just treading water and staying afloat. It makes me feel the void of friendship.

I am thankful to you Cheryl for calling us...even at the last minute...and reaching out with friendship. I need that!

In the small town we lived in before Phoenix, I would see friends every day! I would see them at the grocery store, stop cars in the middle of the road to do a quick convo until the next car came up behind us (and sometimes waving for them to just pass on by because we were enjoying talking), I saw people at the schools and waved at the youth (I used to work with youth at that church), I made connections when I stopped by the church *often* to see Charles or to drop something off and I often had friends who dropped by our house to say hi or to ask a question and we'd sit on the porch and talk and connect. I didn't realize how much I missed that.

I'm thankful for that time in my life.....it was good to experience how it can be.

My friend Kelly was asking me on Saturday if I felt like I had any real friends here. I felt an immediate welling behind my eyes and it surprised me. We both felt like life is just too busy and we are both too tired to make the effort. blah

I need to work on that and I need make an effort because God's given me some wonderful women here to connect with....if we'll just make a call. I did make it a point to walk over to, and hug the necks of some friends at church who I haven't been connected with lately. It is no one's fault (so no feeling guilty Patrice! lol). We all feel that void and we all feel the tug of the urgent needs of day to day life stealing away our energy. (Yay for Women's retreats! Maybe we should make it a month long this year)

I'm thankful for potential friendship and the picking right up where we left off factor.

Charles and I and Kelly went to visit a woman named Reilly on Saturday. She has been consistently going downhill with MS since the mid '80's. She became a Christian then too and even though she has been worn down to a tiny smidge of a woman, can no longer lift herself out of her bed or get out of her apartment very often, she is a shining light. She has a ministry right there in that apartment to her caregivers and neighbors. She is always on the phone to a neighbor or praying with her caregivers....about THEIR struggles, not her own....and she said some pretty profound spiritual things while we were there. I felt that welling up feeling several times while we were there and that is not really like me. It's either perimenopausal mood swings or God speaking to me. Yeah, well I do have mood swings!

It made me so thankful for this body, as much as I complain about being tired and worn out, it is a healthy body and I can walk, dance, take care of my own needs and even take care of others with it. What a blessing.

On Sunday we got to know a young woman who has come several times in the past 2 weeks. She is in her early thirties and is a single mom, raising four girls. The oldest is 12 and the youngest is 3! She is full of energy and of a desire to raise her daughters right and to please God. She sat with us at the evening church Thanksgiving dinner. Another single parent joined us....hi Bill! (he reads this sometimes...please notice the rss feeds I finally put up!) He is raising 2 boys and a daughter. Then I noticed several other single parents went breezing by me during the night and I suddenly realized how many there are and hard their job must be! But they take it in stride, they love their kids and seem to be doing a great job of it.

It made me so very thankful for having a husband to help me raise our kids.....and to be my partner in life as well. I"m sorry I take that for granted so often!

Last week, a friend's two teenaged daughters (who are Emma and Bethany's ages) were in a horrible accident on a major freeway in California. They are fine except for whiplash, after their tire blew out and their car went in to a spin with semi trucks behind and beside them. The truck beside them crushed the hood of their car while missing the passenger area.

I'm thankful for God's protection every day, especially over our children. I used to worry a lot more than I do these days about their safety. I pray for them but I also remind myself *often* that God is watching out for them. He's got plans for them and I trust Him. This doesn't mean bad things will never happen. It means I trust He won't let a random event ruin His plans for them.

Finally, today we had a lock down event at the school. There was a police chase through our neighborhood and the criminal crashed into another car and jumped out of his car and ran....towards our school playground. That is as much as was reported by an eye witness before he ran in to tell the school office to lock down. When he went back out, the police were taking photos of a sawed off shotgun in the front seat of the car.

I'm thankful that we continue to be crime free since last summer (when we had a little crime spree happening here) and for our home alarm system. And thankful that no one was hurt today. What we thought was a drill turned out to be something kind of scary.....like the world outside trying to creep in on a safe sanctuary.

I kind of feel like the person...whoever they were....who wrote the poem with the line, "I complained that I had no shoes until I saw a man with no feet." It is the things we take for granted each day that we need to be most grateful for.....

....because seeing the possible complications in life, makes you suddenly see with better vision.

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."
[Psalm 92:1]

Friday's Feast #169

***Go to Friday's Feast to learn more or to do your own spread.***

Appetizer
What was your first “real” job?
In my junior year in high school I worked at THE MALL. I worked at a Waldenbooks bookstore. It was a good job except for the nazi boss I had. She would sneak in on Sundays to see if we were breaking the rules. No trust.....or much respect. I think I lasted 3 months there. My next job, at another mall, was a relief. I worked at Pixy Portrait Studio in JCPenneys and I got to take portraits of children. We only photographed children. Very fun people to work for and fun work....making kids smile. Perfect job for me. (I just had a revelation...or is that an epiphany?) hmmmmm

Soup
Where would you go if you wanted to spark your creativity?
My sister's (and BIL's..lol) cabin, a secluded place in the woods. And it would be winter, during a snowstorm....or in summer during the monsoon season. Weather inspires me....as long as I am inside just looking at it.

Salad
Complete this sentence: I am embarrassed when…
......I feel like I"ve done the wrong thing or said something stupid. It could be any hour of the day. I do a lot of embarrassing things....and I have embarrassing children sometimes. (well I think that is paybacks for when I was a kid) I'm even somewhat embarrassed by this question.

Main Course
What values did your parents instill in you?
Compassion for the underdog, respect, honesty, love of God and home.



Dessert
Name 3 fads from your teenage years.

Oh my! The seventies were full of fads.

~Clackers....glass balls on the ends of a string with a metal washer in the middle of the string and you hold the washer and raise the thing up and down until the ends are 'clacking' away in a butterfly-ish pattern. You could get those pups going so fast that you couldn't see the balls anymore. They were banned at my school after several incidents of breakage and flying broken glass balls.

~Pogo sticks....I never could do it. It's one of my embarrassments.

~Clothing: track shoes, cut off jean shorts like Daisy Duke wears, bell bottomed hip huggers, smock blouses, peasant tops, tie dye anything, platform shoes (for guys or girls), Levi 501 button up jeans (I loved those), earth shoes, berets, bandanas, knee socks, maxi skirts, vests, gauzy shirts.

Thanking God....by name

Well....

...the turkey is bought.
...the dressing is made and in the freezer.
...I have studied the gravy making tips on allrecipes.com and in my November Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
...the ingredients for pies and appetizers are in the cupboards and fridge.
...the tiny pumpkins (white and orange) for the centerpiece are in the fridge and I'm hoping they stay fresh for one week.
...my head hurts and I want to go to sleep now, even though it is only 7:30pm.

Oh and here is a cute Thanksgiving story. Today my second graders were working on their rough draft of What I am Thankful For essay. One little boy, G, came over to me and proudly showed me his paper. It said,

"I am thankful for god because he is the ruler of the whole word!"

I wanted to jump up and down because he knows, with that childlike faith that there is a god and that is who we are thankful TO. But I contained myself and said, "Yes he is! But you need to add an 'l' to world and capitalize God's name when you write it." He took a step back to his desk, and then whirled around dramatically and said with a face full of wonder, "That's his NAME??"

heehee, I said, "Yes and you need to capitalize his name always." He looked very serious and said, "Okay, I will!"

This is the same boy I rushed to the nurse a few weeks ago, thinking (I can say it now) that he had that staph infection, MRSA. Thankfully (to God) it was reported back to us that it was not MRSA, but it was an infection and he had to use a prescription cream and oral antibiotics to get rid of it. *yikes* I"m so glad he is alright. He's a sweet kid....

....and he knows that God is the ruler of the whole world!

Don't believe everything you see...

Okay, from the comments I got on that WW post, I think I should explain the photo below! lol

If you notice, you cannot see the ends of the log Hannah is holding. That is because it is resting on some fallen trees. She is not lifting the log. She is just posing under it. ;)

Good one huh?