I was going to start a series of posts on Eating green, healthy and on a budget this week, because many of my friends are asking how we manage to do it, then I saw this and it just seemed wrong. Maybe another time.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Wait, I don't rember voting for him...
This week China has decided it's one child policy is an utter failure, at the same time one of the far too many Czars of the US government is being called out for this. I'm pretty sure this guy would consider a newborn whale an actual whale, and a do whatever it takes to protect it. It is sad that far too many do not see human babies in the same light.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Funniest Bumper Sticker I've seen in a while
Actually, my husband saw it in a gas station lot...
"I'll keep my freedom, guns and money, you can keep the change"
"I'll keep my freedom, guns and money, you can keep the change"
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The #1 reason Chesterton Should be a Saint
Totally selfish reason, He died on my wedding anniversary. I remember crying when I looked a the Liturgical Calendar and it was blank on June 14 ( hey, I'm a good Catholic girl!). I tell people my wedding date and everyone says the same thing, "Flag Day? Are you patriotic?". Trust me, that had nothing to do with it. I need a feast day on June 14th that fits, and St. Gilbert would do!
For more on the Canonization mutterings read here.
or here or here, for they are all far more brilliant and less selfish.
For more on the Canonization mutterings read here.
or here or here, for they are all far more brilliant and less selfish.
Be careful what you ask for, you might get it
One of life's little lessons.
I live in a very nice community, my husband likes to (half) joke that we are the slums of this particular town in our little cramped condo. I often go to the park or library and get the feeling that I do not belong there with my kids, in their hand-me-down clothes. A friend once told me she felt like she needed to be dusted off in similar situations, entering the giant houses of my town, but coming from a bungalow on the South side. I thought she was silly, but I run that conversation over in my head daily lately. I know how she felt.
But just as I start feeling bad for myself, I remember a book that I read. It was a biography of Dorothy Day, upon reading it, I begged God to give me poverty so I could be as simple as Mary, and because I knew how petty and wasteful I could be. He has given me so much, I am not even close to poverty, but simplicity, yes. I asked to always remember those who had less, yet I whine and feel bad for myself. God did not give me true poverty, but he gave me what was good for me.
I live in a very nice community, my husband likes to (half) joke that we are the slums of this particular town in our little cramped condo. I often go to the park or library and get the feeling that I do not belong there with my kids, in their hand-me-down clothes. A friend once told me she felt like she needed to be dusted off in similar situations, entering the giant houses of my town, but coming from a bungalow on the South side. I thought she was silly, but I run that conversation over in my head daily lately. I know how she felt.
But just as I start feeling bad for myself, I remember a book that I read. It was a biography of Dorothy Day, upon reading it, I begged God to give me poverty so I could be as simple as Mary, and because I knew how petty and wasteful I could be. He has given me so much, I am not even close to poverty, but simplicity, yes. I asked to always remember those who had less, yet I whine and feel bad for myself. God did not give me true poverty, but he gave me what was good for me.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
What's next?
One of the previews before Harry Potter is Sherlock Holmes, starring, Robert Downey, Jr. with lots of Explosions. Really? Ugh. Next year can I expect Father Brown Mysteries, starring Christian Bale? Or Miss Marple with Gwenyth Paltrow?
Counting the hours
My sister's husband leaves Afghanistan in 24 hours, God willing. I'm not especially close with him, but I cannot bear to see my sister agonize while the news reports come on, or dread every knock at the door. 24 hours and he will be on a plane to somewhere in Europe, by the end of July he'll be on U.S. soil.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Last Acceptable Prejudice?
Today I was listening to NPR's The Talk of the Nation. I usually enjoy this show, but today, ugh, they were talking about people's objections to Sonia Sotomayor. Great, I thought, I really want to hear this, I think more needs to be said about her. After a few minutes of intelligent discussion, they took calls. The first caller that they allowed on the air, as I'm sure these things are screened, gave her reason for not wanting Sotomayor, she's Catholic. The caller, a older woman went on to complain about how there are already 5 Catholics, and how 6 would make a majority. The commentator reminder her that Sotomayor is not known for her orthodoxy. The caller reminded him that she was raised in a Catholic home and schooled by the Church, and couldn't be trusted. She kept going, Catholic believe in having too many kids, and are causing population problems, Nice, huh.
There are plenty of reasons to have concerns about Sotomayor, but her faith as a reason should not be one of them. So what she is Catholic! If anyone said she cannot be trusted because she is a woman, Hispanic, went to Yale, etc. it would be completely unacceptable, as it should be. However, being a baptized Catholic makes one open to bigotry. Why is it okay?
My Grandfather was raised Southern Baptist, his family disowned him when he married my Irish Catholic grandmother and converted. His family was taught to not trust Catholics, they kept guns in their churches waiting for a signal from the pope to take over the U.S. They sent their kids to Special schools to get them ready for this. Okay, this may have been slightly less bad in the 1940's, but now, we are far beyond this, right?
I guess that not much has changed in nearly 2000 years.
There are plenty of reasons to have concerns about Sotomayor, but her faith as a reason should not be one of them. So what she is Catholic! If anyone said she cannot be trusted because she is a woman, Hispanic, went to Yale, etc. it would be completely unacceptable, as it should be. However, being a baptized Catholic makes one open to bigotry. Why is it okay?
My Grandfather was raised Southern Baptist, his family disowned him when he married my Irish Catholic grandmother and converted. His family was taught to not trust Catholics, they kept guns in their churches waiting for a signal from the pope to take over the U.S. They sent their kids to Special schools to get them ready for this. Okay, this may have been slightly less bad in the 1940's, but now, we are far beyond this, right?
I guess that not much has changed in nearly 2000 years.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
4th of July Memories
I think I'm getting old, this 4th I spent the whole day thinking about being a kid and what we did on the 4th. Really, it was nothing special, but something about it was to me. The 4th is one of my dad's 3 "high holidays", the former Marine is patriotic to the core, and loved being able to show it.
The day usually began with everyone sleeping in, a family tradition in my parent's house, and ended with mosquito bites and smoking monkeys. But,what fell in between, simple though it was, holds magic in my memories. Dad always mowed the lawn on the 4th. I vividly remember swinging while he mowed the lawn around me, all the while blaring his Marine Corp Band records. Sousa serenaded us as the grass flew around us. I remember the pride that swelled in him as he loudly, and not very well, sang along. To this day I can remember most of the words to Stars and Stripes Forever, and rarely lapse into verses about ducks.
Once the lawn was done, he'd smoke a cigar, usually my mother was in the house, so he made use he wasn't caught. Then, the real fun could begin, snakes. I'm still not sure why they are so fun, but we could watch him light snakes with his cigar for hours and still not get enough. Like all the men in my life, my dad liked to play with fire, so he would spend hours getting the charcoal grill "just right". Of course, this usually meant throwing in a few firecrackers, just to test it out.
Most of the fun we had is now illegal, small fireworks and the like, but back then, we would beg and plead for him to light bottle rockets. Dad is in publishing, and his proofs and film came in long tubes, which happen to be perfect for launching bottle rockets. After a while, my mother, the nurse, would come out and give us the "someone's going to get hurt" speech. Once she was back in the house, though, Dad went back to it!
The rest of the day was pretty similar to most people's BBQ, and fireworks. We always left at 7:30, in jeans that we had out grown since last required to wear them a month prior. Like I said, really, it was nothing special, but looking back, my eyes tear and I smile from the simple beauty of it all. This year is rainy and cold, but you never know what memories will be made.
The day usually began with everyone sleeping in, a family tradition in my parent's house, and ended with mosquito bites and smoking monkeys. But,what fell in between, simple though it was, holds magic in my memories. Dad always mowed the lawn on the 4th. I vividly remember swinging while he mowed the lawn around me, all the while blaring his Marine Corp Band records. Sousa serenaded us as the grass flew around us. I remember the pride that swelled in him as he loudly, and not very well, sang along. To this day I can remember most of the words to Stars and Stripes Forever, and rarely lapse into verses about ducks.
Once the lawn was done, he'd smoke a cigar, usually my mother was in the house, so he made use he wasn't caught. Then, the real fun could begin, snakes. I'm still not sure why they are so fun, but we could watch him light snakes with his cigar for hours and still not get enough. Like all the men in my life, my dad liked to play with fire, so he would spend hours getting the charcoal grill "just right". Of course, this usually meant throwing in a few firecrackers, just to test it out.
Most of the fun we had is now illegal, small fireworks and the like, but back then, we would beg and plead for him to light bottle rockets. Dad is in publishing, and his proofs and film came in long tubes, which happen to be perfect for launching bottle rockets. After a while, my mother, the nurse, would come out and give us the "someone's going to get hurt" speech. Once she was back in the house, though, Dad went back to it!
The rest of the day was pretty similar to most people's BBQ, and fireworks. We always left at 7:30, in jeans that we had out grown since last required to wear them a month prior. Like I said, really, it was nothing special, but looking back, my eyes tear and I smile from the simple beauty of it all. This year is rainy and cold, but you never know what memories will be made.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Raising Adults
I had a revelation this week, and honestly, I'm not sure why it took me so long. These little (or not so little in the cast of the 11 yr. old female!) are going to grow up someday and not have me to butter their toast. They need to learn to do this on their own.
Sure, my kids do chores , and plenty of other independent things, they have responsibilities, but I still baby them as much as I can. The youngest is almost 5, and I still baby him far too much. I had a vision of him, 30, in my home, with me doing all the things I do now for him, that he could do on his own. Frightening. There is a time for babying and a time for training up children to be independent adults. The time has come for more lessons in the later.
Sure, I will still cook for them, but why can't I expect them to help with the cooking? They all need to learn to sort and wash clothes eventually, why not at least give them a taste of it now? It seems like common sense, which is why I'm so embarrassed I forgot. But what seems so logical has become a lost mentality.
My husband manages a store, and several of his staff still live at home, well into their 20's, and depend upon their parents for a car, home and food. I was married at 22, and had a child at 23. It is completely ridiculous that this is becoming common place. We are becoming a nation of children in adult bodies. China has been struggling with this same problem for a few years now, because of the doting that one child receives.
The 4th of July is a reminder of our Nation's Independence, let's try to be patriotic, and raise our children to be independent adults.
Sure, my kids do chores , and plenty of other independent things, they have responsibilities, but I still baby them as much as I can. The youngest is almost 5, and I still baby him far too much. I had a vision of him, 30, in my home, with me doing all the things I do now for him, that he could do on his own. Frightening. There is a time for babying and a time for training up children to be independent adults. The time has come for more lessons in the later.
Sure, I will still cook for them, but why can't I expect them to help with the cooking? They all need to learn to sort and wash clothes eventually, why not at least give them a taste of it now? It seems like common sense, which is why I'm so embarrassed I forgot. But what seems so logical has become a lost mentality.
My husband manages a store, and several of his staff still live at home, well into their 20's, and depend upon their parents for a car, home and food. I was married at 22, and had a child at 23. It is completely ridiculous that this is becoming common place. We are becoming a nation of children in adult bodies. China has been struggling with this same problem for a few years now, because of the doting that one child receives.
The 4th of July is a reminder of our Nation's Independence, let's try to be patriotic, and raise our children to be independent adults.
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