Change is Good...

Change is good...or so they say. I'm still unsure.

Change, at least in my humble opinion, is sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes, well, just simply change. For example, we are all about to embark on a journey into the New Year of 2007. (How can this possibly be, by the way? Didn't this just happen a couple months ago?) For most, a new year symbolizes a fresh start, new things to come, new hope, new plans, new ideas, and new opportunities. All good things.

Then again, the coming of a new year can bring painful memories to the surface. A couple remains childless into yet another new year. A child remains very ill for a third straight year. A difficult situation spans another year. Sometimes change isn't all it's cracked up to be.

And then there are just simply changes for the sake of changes in a new year. Changing jobs, perhaps for the better....hopefully so, but with so many unknowns. Changing friendships, some growing closer and stronger while others, out of necessity, seem to fall by the wayside. Changing directions, no longer certain that the current path is the best one and stepping out on faith that something new will lead to better things. All things considered, none of the changes are strictly necessary, but happen anyhow because although we are creatures of habit, we still also all seek more and better and new and different.

And so, in this time of change, this changing of years to something New, may you and your family find happiness and contentment and joy and sweetness that comes in the hope of all things new. Happy New Year!!

Still Standing

Well, we're still alive and kicking.

As it turned out, Emily's "Christmas pukies" delayed our trip to visit family by a day, but she was the only real casualty of the stomach bug. She is doing better, but she's still acting pretty run-down and whiny. Oh...the whining. She's napping right now and did so without a fight, so hopefully we're headed back in the right direction. Now we just have to work on sleeping at night (without the battle) and eating properly once again. She's had no appetite since last Thursday evening and has developed the habit of spitting out her food without swallowing. I personally think she's a little scared that the food will "make" her sick again. Seriously, this child forgets nothing, so it's certainly a possibility.

We had a nice, though quiet and somewhat different than normal, Christmas. We spent time with my in-laws. My brother-in-law and his new wife ended up spending their first Christmas together as invalid and nurse, in that order, so we didn't get to see them. Then my Granny-in-law ended up in the ER on Christmas Eve night through yesterday, so we didn't get to spend Christmas with them either. But we're headed back this weekend to visit for New Years', so hopefully we'll all be healthy, or at least on the mend, by then. After all, we still have gifts to exchange!

Emily "gets" the present and Santa aspect of Christmas this year. She can open her own gifts, she visited Santa and told him what she wanted, (Clifford, the Big Red Dog), and she knows that Santa came to Grandma's house, ate the "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake and left her presents under the tree...including a big stuffed Clifford. The kid was spoiled rotten, but true to toddler form, her favorite gift of all came in a tiny purse her Aunt bought for her. The purse had a little pretend cell phone, compact, keys and 2 tubes of chapstick. It was one of the first gifts she opened and let's just put it this way....there was chapstick all over her face and many tears when we had to pry both tubes out of her hands. Lesson for next year....buy the simplest, cheapest thing I can find and let her open it first. She'll be thrilled!

All in all, we're doing okay. We're under a lot of stress due to some upheaval going on with Andrew's work. Lots of decisions and questions and worries and very few concrete answers. I like concrete. I'm not so good with the what if's...but otherwise, we're hanging in here.

An Update

Well, it's 8:26 pm as I'm beginning this post. Emily has been puke-free all day, but she's really not eaten anything except a couple crackers. She is drinking some water and gatorade, and so far so good. She really didn't get off the couch more than 3 times all day and those were for diaper changes, which is so unlike her. Normally, this kid couldn't sit still if her life depended on it. Once daddy got home, she perked up a little, even attempting to play for a few minutes, but that too was short-lived. Now she and daddy are camping out on her bedroom floor, mostly because mommy did it last night with little to no sleep and is now sporting quite the headache because of it. So we'll see how that goes. I feel a little queasy, but I know it's in part due to the headache, little sleep and little food. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets for all of us. Say a little prayer that Andrew and I don't get sick and that Emily is back to her spunky self tomorrow...and that we all sleep well...and that we can still have Christmas with the rest of our family without fear of infecting them.

By the way, in case you missed it, I posted a quick little Christmas quiz, but it is now 2 posts below this one...I had saved it as a draft yesterday and then never got to post it last night, so it shows up late in the line-up!

Again, Merry Christmas to all, in case I don't get another chance to tell you!

Fa-la-la-la-BLAH!

Well, if you read my answer for the worst Christmas under my "Christmas Survey" post, you'll understand the title of this post.

Yep, we are once again doing the Christmas Pukies. "Oh What Fun....Not!"

I went upstairs last night to rock Emily and after about 10 minutes, she looked up at me, clutched her tummy and vomited all over her, me, the rocking chair, her favorite stuffed animal, three blankets and a large portion of the floor. Yep...lots of fun. She proceeded to puke every 20-30 minutes from about 9:00pm until sometime after 4:00am. I know this because I slept on the floor beside her, listening to her call my name, tell me (with her sign language) that she was "all done" and then puke again, laying down and presumably going to back to sleep for a few minutes before going 'round again. This didn't allow for much sleep for Emily or me and pretty much guarantees that I will be following much the same course in 12-24 hours.

I blame this on our speech therapist. She came to our house (as usual) Monday morning and half-way through the hour-long session told me that her 2-year old son had puked all weekend and that her husband had awakened that very morning, also puking. Gee...I wonder if it ever occurred to her to NOT BE THE CARRIER MONKEY!!!!!

Did I mention we were supposed to leave to visit family 2 hours away this evening...and stay through Christmas? Looks like that plan is out the window and who knows what the new plan will be our if we will be healthy enough to even make a Christmas plan.

Bah Humbug!

Emily has spent the entire morning reassuring me that her tummy feels better, but then again, all she's had to drink is water, she's asked for nothing to eat and all she wants to do is lay down...not at all like her, so it's really hard to tell whether the worst is over yet or not. Please, please let it be...for all of us.

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Songs?

I found this quiz on another blog, so if you've already seen it a zillion times, just ignore it, but if you haven't, test your knowledge. (I got 9 out of 10, in case you were wondering!)

Can you guess all 10 Christmas songs?

1. Listen to the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds.
2. Embellish the interior passageways.
3. Twelve o'clock on a clement night witnessed its arrival.
4. The Christmas preceding all others.
5. Small municipality in Judea south of Jerusalem.
6. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite in distinguished males.
7. Nocturnal time span of unbroken quietness.
8. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute crystals.
9. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted, metallic, resonant cups.
10. In awe of the eventide characterized by religiosity.

Got that Christmas Spirit?

The answers will be in the first post...but no cheating!

Some Pictures to Peruse

The shirt says it all...of course, she looks incredibly sweet and innocent in this picture. It's all part of her diabolic scheme to make mommy look like a liar...really, it is!
Ah...there's a little bit of the spunk!
An attempt at Christmas pictures.
Another attempt, in her Christmas dress, on another day. Amazing that this looks like she was posed so nicely. She wouldn't sit still for anything.
See...she's ready to bolt in this one, but it's still cute.

Christmas Survey

So, as I've mentioned before, I'm short on creative ideas and time right now, so I'm going to try something different today. I'm asking for your participation. (Yes, that means YOU!) I would like to get your answers to the following Christmas-themed questions:

1. What was your favorite Christmas (holiday) tradition as a child?

2. What is your favorite Christmas song?

3. Which food makes Christmas, well, Christmas for you?

4. White lights or multi-colored on your tree? on your house?

5. Classy Christmas decorations or Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation style?

6. Do you send Christmas cards every year?

7. What is the worst Christmas you ever had?

8. What's your favorite Christmas memory?

9. If Santa visits (or visited) your house, were the presents that he left under the tree wrapped, unwrapped or a combo of both? (If you answer no other question, please answer this one...it's a source of bitter debate for Andrew and I.)

10. What is the one gift you always wanted, but never got?

I'll provide my answers later so as not to influence anyone....Have fun!

The Last Minute Scramble

Yep, I'm still here. It's been a busy few days. On Saturday, Andrew and I split up, he with Emily and me alone, to try to start and finish our Christmas shopping. (He was starting and finishing in one day, I was merely finishing.) I almost did get done, but I find myself today needing 2 more gifts, one for Andrew's secretary (hardly seems fair) and one for my friend. I'm stuck. I have no more good ideas left. And yet, something will have to be purchased today. The gift for my friend must also be mailed out. It's not looking good that that one will arrive in time for Christmas.

Speaking of mailing things, I sent my family's Christmas gifts out yesterday, the documented absolute busiest, last day to guarantee that they will arrive before Christmas, postal day of the year. Suffice it to say that I had to wait in line on the street in my car while police directed traffic just to get a parking space at the post office. Then, I attempted to lug a box that used to house my full-size vacuum cleaner and a two-year old across the busy parking lot. The box was only slightly shorter than Emily and 2-3 times as wide. It wasn't a pretty sight. Thank goodness for pleasant weather and a gentleman who happened to be walking in just before me and offered to hold the door, otherwise, I think I'd still be stuck outside trying to juggle everything.

All in all, I'm just simply too busy at the moment to post anything very deep. I'll be back sometime after Christmas with some more thoughtful posts (hopefully), but for now, I'm just checking in from time to time to remind everyone that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. And just in case I don't have a chance to say it later on....Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Experimenting...

I finally have a few minutes to myself because Emily is napping without too much fight today! Can anyone say "Hallelujah!!!" She only cried for 20 minutes or so last night when I left her room and about 5-10 at naptime today, so maybe, just maybe things are headed in the right direction.

So what do I do? I decided to play around with the new features on Blogger Beta and tweak my template a little bit. I'm still not sure the changes are exactly what I want, but I'm going to give it some time and see if it grows on me. In the meantime, I'm announcing the addition of "Bekah's Bits" to the Links column. Bekah is my former college roomate and someone I am proud to call "friend". She's a budding writer and an all-around great person, so feel free to visit. WARNING...she is a cat person and addicted to taking pictures of everything (like me).

So, though this is certainly not the world's most earth-shatteringly amazing blog post, I am still alive, slightly more sane than a few days ago nearly finished with Christmas shopping and wrapping. Thank heaven for small blessings....

A Work in Progress....

Photo:http://www.vividlight.com/Articles/1618.htm

First, thank you to Skyepuppy and Janice whose comments and thoughts and prayers mean so much. Thanks also to Bekah, I know you tried to post and yes, I did read your email and appreciate your understanding and encouragement as well.

Now a quick update...nothing much has changed except that now we have more going on with some work-related pressures to add to the mess. UGH....what else can I say?

It's easy for me, when I hear someone else talk about their worries and troubles to remind them that God has everything under control and that they shouldn't worry because God will take care of them. So why is it so hard to follow my own (good and true) advice? I do believe what I say for other people. I believe it for myself, but the worrying part...I'm still working on that. I don't want to worry about any of it. I try not to. But I still do. So it brings to mind an old Sunday school song I once knew...

"He's still working on me....to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars...the sun and earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be....He's still working on me."

To think that I am more complex, and frankly difficult, than creating the entire universe and setting it into motion is pretty humbling. To think that it is taking me so long to simply fully trust God and leave my life in His hands without worrying is also humbling. To think that He looks at me in the same way that I look at Emily, who is terrified to the point of hysteria of falling asleep without me holding her, and who says, as I say to Emily, "You know I'll still be in the house with you. I'll never leave you, I'll always love you and I won't let anything (truly) bad happen to you. I know you can do this because I've taught you how, now you just have to trust Me."

"How loving and patient He must be...He's still working on me..."

Needing Peace

Well, I must apologize to my blog buddies and offer an explanation for my lack of posting. It mostly boils down to this...I am going through a really tough time with Emily right now. She is smack-dab in the midst of terrible twos, she is incredibly strong-willed, she lacks adequate communication skills and she currently is absolutely refusing to fall asleep for naps or bedtime without an hour or two (or more) of shrieking and screaming. She's physically fine, but whatever is causing her to not want to sleep in her crib is causing a great deal of havoc for me right now.

I love this little girl more than she will probably ever know, but I hate doing battle with her all day and night with no breaks. (Just as an example, she's had no nap today, we put her to bed at 8:30 and now, at 10:45, she's still crying. She screamed for a solid hour, then Andrew went up to check on her to make sure she didn't have a dirty diaper, and now I can tell that he's trying to leave her room again because she's started crying again.)

This is the way it's been since the middle of last week. I'm tired. I'm extremely frustrated. I'm seriously discouraged and depressed. I'm miserable and I dread visiting my relatives this Christmas because Emily doesn't sleep well during normal visits...Something, soon, has got to give.

So, if you've got a minute...please pray....and be understanding if I'm not around for a while because right now, this is very, very low on my list of priorities.

The Week (so far) in Pictures...

We decorated the Christmas tree on Saturday (after family photos). It's still a bit of a work in progress, but it's up and that's an accomplishment.

This is the view from the front door around 3:45 pm this afternoon. It's 20-some degrees and still snowing in spurts between blinding sunshine.

This is the view out the back door onto the deck that leads to the pool. The pool is frozen. The final snowfall prediction? 6-10 inches. Brrrr!!!

This is for Malott (and all the other dog lovers). This is our first cat. She's a big gal and she thinks she rules the house. She's quite dignified, as you can probably tell.

This is her fellow housecat, who is a bit less dignified in oh-so-many ways. She sleeps a lot. In my chair, or under the Christmas tree....or in it. The way she looks? Well, that's how I feel today. Maybe I just need a nap...

Christmas Time is Here

Well, it's that time of year again....time for Christmas pictures. We braved the mall on Saturday to have some family Christmas pictures taken, to see Santa and to try to get a little Christmas shopping in. This despite my rule that unless absolutely neccessary, one should never go to the mall on a Saturday in December. You just shouldn't even try.

We went to Sears, all dressed in our coordinating holiday apparel, with an extra change of clothes for Emily, since I wanted some individual pictures of her in her Christmas dress. We looked like a nice family.

By the end of the photo session, we were barely speaking, Emily was DONE with pictures and pretty much everything and the Christmas spirit was 100% sucked out of all of us. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la, la, la!

The family pictures turned out okay. Not great. Emily's were about the same. She didn't want to sit or stand or by held still the entire time. Oh well....there's always next year.

As we were leaving the studio, another family was looking at their pictures and said, "Wow, we actually look like we like each other! It only took 10 years of family pictures."

So, maybe there's hope for us yet.

Blogging in Beta

Well, since I was tired of seeing the "Want to switch to Beta?" message, and then upon further investigation, seeing that I would eventually be forced to make the switch, I am now officially blogging in Beta...whatever that means.

Seriously, I have no idea what difference this will make for me, though I have heard through the grapevine that it might make layout changes a little easier. Which I guess is good... So maybe I'll play around with the template or add some links...the possibilities are endless! Okay, who am I kidding? I can barely find time to post a quick update these days. (Not that I haven't tried that only to have Blogger eat my most recent post...grrr!)

So, here goes nothing. If this blog suddenly disappears without warning, it's Blogger Beta's fault...not mine!

A Time for Thanksgiving

Each year, we gather together with family, we eat turkey and stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie until we explode. We watch football and, if we can stay awake long enough after all the tryptophan makes its way through our bodies, we actually see the end of the game(s) and maybe play a few board games of our own. I love Thanksgiving. I love the time with family. I love playing games together and just enjoying the togetherness. As I think about all that we do together though, I am reminded that giving thanks is often on the backburner compared with everything else. It isn't that we aren't thankful, or that we don't give thanks as we prepare to eat. I know that my family and I are thankful, but I wanted to take a few moments today, before the rush of Thursday hits, to lists some of the things for which I give thanks this year. Feel free to add your own to the list as well.

In no particular order after the first one,

1. I am thankful and grateful to God for giving me the hope of eternal life. Without His hope, nothing else would be as sweet.

2. I am thankful for my family. I realize more and more as I grow older and hopefully wiser, that I have been blessed with a wonderful family. I not only love and respect my own family, but I love and actually enjoy my in-laws as well, and I know that they love me as their own. It may seem trite, but in today's society where the dysfunctional family is glorified and rampant, I know what a gift my family is.

3. I am thankful for a healthy mind and body. I'm thankful that I can do everything a "normal" person can do without thinking...like breathing and seeing and hearing and smelling and speaking. I will never take them for granted.

4. I am thankful for my husband who loves me as I am and sees in me something special and worthy of his love.

5. I'm thankful for my beautiful little girl who is such a blessing and has taught me so much. I know firsthand what a miracle she is.

6. I am thankful for true friends...for friends who know when I need a few hours out over a quiet dinner. I am thankful for those friends who know when to call and chat and when to sit and listen...and when to say, "I don't know how you feel, but I'll pray for you" and they mean it.

7. I'm thankful for my home and the ability to work and provide for ourselves. The job may not be perfect, but we are not out on the streets, we are comfortable and we have what we need and want.

8. I'm thankful for the sun, the seasons, and the beauty of this imperfect world as well as the knowledge that something even more amazing is waiting for me someday.

9. I'm thankful for my freedom and those who fight tirelessly to defend, even when their efforts are not popular. Somehow a simple "thank you" doesn't seem like enough.

10. I'm thankful for the struggles that I face because I know that, in the end, if I allow God to work through them, I will be a better person, and that I am a better person person because of the things I have already experienced. (Of course, this is still a hard one to feel thankful for, but I AM thankful anyway.)

Well, this is only a partial list. There is so much more...far too much to list, but it's a start. Take some time this Thanksgiving to do more than celebrate a holiday...take some time to give thanks.

A Better Understanding

I always thought I was a fairly nice person, a decent person, a person who cared about others. I still think I was, but now I know I am better, and I have my daughter to thank for it.

When I was trying (and trying and trying) to get pregnant, I began with a rosy outlook and the assumption that I wouldn't have any real problems doing what it seems like everyone else I've ever known could do. I had no reason to believe that getting pregnant would be a problem for me. But it was. I was worried and felt alone because infertility is not something that is widely talked about in public. It wasn't something I just wanted to bring up over dinner with friends...even really good ones. So, out of a need for more information about treatment options and a general sense of alone-ness, I moved out of my comfort zone and joined an internet message board for women who were going through the same thing. Throughout my journey to get pregnant, I was able to share the ups and downs, the heartaches and the joys, the fears and the worries with others. But almost more importantly, I gained a new sense of empathy for those who suffer in silence, waiting and wondering and feeling alone, even though they really aren't. That was the first lesson my daughter taught me, even before she was born.

The second lesson came after she was born. She was absolutely wonderful and healthy, but she was anything but content. She had HORRIBLE colic for a solid 4 months, and quite honestly, she was about 7 months old before I felt like I truly enjoyed more moments with her than not. She was, and still is, extremely strong-willed, making those infant colicky months something I can truthfully say I am thankful are behind us. When most mothers were telling me, "Oh, someday when she's 16, you'll look back at this infant stage and long for these days again..." I was feeling like Emily couldn't grow out of that stage fast enough. Even now, 2 years later, I still feel that way. When she's 16, I'm certain I'll miss some of the baby stages, but not the colicky infant stage.

Needless to say, I once again felt like the odd-ball, the only one who felt the way I did. But once again, I stepped out of my comfort zone and began to be very open and honest with people about what I was going through with Emily. Through that honesty, I was able to make at least one really great friend. She too, had a strong-willed little girl who was just starting with colic about the time that Emily was beginning to grow out of it. As a result of my honesty with this mom and a new sense of empathy for moms whose children were a little "more" of everything, a strong and wonderful friendship began to grow. I was there for her to lean on when colic was at it worst, and she has since been there for me, as we face current challenges. Once again, Emily taught me a valuable lesson in empathy and understanding.

Now, Emily is teaching me yet another lesson. She is teaching me how to empathize with those who struggle to do what others take for granted. As I've mentioned before, Emily is having trouble talking. We've moved from just assuming that she was a late talker, to having her involved in speech therapy to help nudge her in the right direction, to being quite concerned that she may have an actual speech disorder. This is still very hard for me to accept and to wrap my mind around. How can my perfect, beautiful little baby girl, who I know is so smart and funny and wonderful and stubborn and empathetic have a disorder that may prevent her from being perceived as "normal" by the average person? It hasn't yet been too bad, but as she gets older, her lack of speech becomes more and more obvious. I've already had my share of "She's not talking yet and she's 2? My child was talking when he was a year old," or the even more popular, "Well, my uncle's son's friend had a little girl who didn't talk until she was 4 and then she started talking in complete sentences with perfect pronunciation..." or my personal favorite, "Well, just wait until she does start talking...you'll wish you could go back to these days." Somehow, I have my doubts about that. I just want her to be able to say "I love you, mama" or "I want some juice." Heck, I'll even settle for single words.

You see, Emily is over 2, with the receptive language skills of a 2+ year old, yet her expressive language skills are currently those of a 1 year old. In plain English, she thinks at or above her age. She understands most of what we say. She even knows what she wants to or should say, however she can't say it. The things she can actually say are typical of a 1 year old. I've been frustrated by her lack of ability to communicate, but I can't even begin to imagine how frustrated she must be. I often wonder if she hears me asking her the same question 5 times and just thinks to herself, "Why doesn't my mama get that I know what she's asking...I just can't tell her. I'm doing the best that I can." And that literally breaks my heart, because in my impatience, I am guilty of forgetting how hard she's probably trying. And if I'm guilty of this, as her mom who knows everything about her, how much more so is the average person she will meet?

It's really hard for me to think of the road ahead of Emily. She may need speech therapy well into her school years. She may appear to be well behind her peers simply because her brain has trouble sending a message to the muscles in her mouth. She may struggle with making friends, my beautifully enthusiastic, loving, empathetic little girl. She may feel stupid, or be made to feel that way, by those who do not understand. She may struggle with school, something that neither her daddy or mommy will really be able to understand. Yet it will be our job to make sure that she knows that she is perfect in our eyes and in God's eyes. It will be my job to make sure that she feels loved and accepted and has confidence in herself. And it is likely to continue breaking my heart, and my own prejudices and stereotypes and make me more loving and understanding and empathetic in the process.

So far, I think Emily has taught me a lot more than I have taught her.

Things That Make Me Go....AAAGGHH!!!

Here, in no particular order, are some things that make me want to shout AAAGGGHHHH!!

1. Cashiers who pick up a ringing telephone and take care of
that caller before attending to a live,
standing-there-in-person, waited-patiently-in- line customer.

2. Cashiers who, after mutely ringing up your purchases, turn the cash register display with your total to you, then as you are paying with a check, mutely hold out their hand for your license. This may seem insignificant, but a friendly, "Hi, how are you today?" and "Your total is..." and "May I please see your license?" is not too much to ask. I think the next time some cashier gives me the silent, impatient treatment when expecting my license, I'm going to say, "Oh, did you need my license? I didn't hear you ask for it."

3. The people who crowd the check-out area at the supermarket who, immediately after you have paid, think that they can stand virtually on top of you, regardless of how many bags you still need to pack in your cart. Space people...Space!

4. Telemarketers. Need I say more? But, especially the ones who are selling something that I would possibly support, just not over the phone. Take for instance, the Christian video company who has called twice now. How they got my number (I'm on the FABULOUS do-not-call list) I'll never know. Now, I'd love to support them someday, just not right now. However, when I've patiently listened to the salespitch and then politely said that I am not interested in paying a one-time price of $39.95, that should be the end of it. But it never, ever, ever ends there. My personal favorite line is the one the goes a little something like this..."I understand, Mrs. H., but let me ask you this...are Christian videos with good family values something you would like to support? Yes? If so, how about a one-time payment of $19.95? Surely good family values are worth $19.95 to you." Well, sir, if you really understood my first answer of "no", then you wouldn't still be trying to sell me this video, now would you? (I finally had to say, "Sir, I'm not trying to be rude, but I already said no to the same question. Goodbye.") AAAGGHHH~!

5. People who walk, slowly with no purpose, down the middle of a parking lot aisle. How do they not realize that there is a line of cars behind them? This just makes me shake my head.

6. People who talk loudly on their cell phones in the middle of a restaurant, theater, mall, etc....I don't want to hear their conversation.

7. The salespeople at those little kiosks in the mall who try to stop you and get you to try their "one-of-a-kind, can't-live-without-it
nail buffing product. Why is it that they can only speak passable English? The one time I got suckered in, the salesman said something like, "You like product? You buy product, yes?" Ummm...No. (By the way, you can get the same nail-buffed effect with a little buffing stone for about $3 at Walmart.)

8. Having to go sit in the bar in order to get a gift certificate to some of my favorite restaurants. I don't want to sit at a smoky bar with a bunch of loud drunks....especially if my 2-year old is with me.

9. Junk mail. Especially credit card offers. However, I just got a shredder and there is something oddly cathartic about grinding up those credit card offers piece by piece....

10. Women who rummage through piles of clothing on store shelves during a sale and leave such a mess behind that it is pointless to even look. Didn't their mothers teach them any manners?

11. People with no manners!

Okay, so this is just a partial list, but I thought I'd get some of that off my chest. I've encountered it all during this week alone, but now I feel better. Feel free to add your own "AAAGGGHHHs" if it will help!

Getting Some Perspective

Well, I had hoped that my birthday would bring better news for the country, but it wasn't to be. I had intended to post this much earlier today, but that also, did not happen. Oh well, sometimes life is like that.

I sort of feel like the Pollyanna in me has been kicked around like a football lately. It's hard to feel optimistic when one thing after the other piles up. Honestly, it's not much fun, and it's not a feeling with which I am accustomed.

I've always considered myself a glass-half-full kind of gal. I still am. I know this, but lately I've been feeling like a glass-empty kind of person. Yesterday's election results are not helping. Emily's clingy, nothing-and-no-one-can-make-me-happy kind of day has not helped. The fact that I'm a year older doesn't particularly bother me, but considering that I am in the absolute worst shape of my life, with a new haircut I'm still unsure about, the desperate need to exercise but no energy with which to mount that effort (plus, at this point, it may pose more health risks...okay, I know that's not true, but still...) and everything about me needs a make-over makes me feel a little less than optimistic.

Then again, tomorrow has to be better...right?

But this is not really a poor-pitiful-me post, despite how it sounds. I'm down right now, in a lower place than I prefer. I hope I am steadily climbing my way back up. I'm trying to gain some better perspective. I'm finding that it's tough to see things in the proper perspective when I'm too close, though. Maybe I just have to keep plugging away, enduring life's little down time (and it is truly little) until I can look back, from a good distance and see things in the right perspective. So for the time being, that is my focus. One day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, and so on. The Pollyanna in me will resurface. I hope it's soon, but for now, she's a little tired.

I suspect however, that this is how God gets my attention. I'm sure He's trying to teach me yet another lesson in love or patience or maybe simply endurance. I don't know what that lesson is yet, but I must be quite the slow learner. This one's taking me quite a while to grasp. I do know that once again, my own troubles have been put into perspective a little bit though. I stumbled across the blogs of some old college friends and acquaintances. It was a small Christian college and several of those people probably wouldn't remember or know me, but I knew them a little. It's been fun to sort of catch myself up on their lives. We're all married, most with kids and jobs and blogs about our kids and spouses and jobs.

I've been struck though, by how many of those acquaintances have endured some pretty tough times. One couple lost their 3-month old in a home accident last year. Their blog has been really, really tough to read as a mom, but also incredibly inspiring. Another couple has lost 3 pregnancies and are still trying. Yet another couple had triplets that were born very prematurely. They lost one just hours after birth and the other two are still in the hospital (seperate ones until today) and have had one ordeal after the other. Again, the faith these families have shown has been inspiring.

These stories have made me realize that my struggles could be much worse, but they've also caused me to consider that Satan works really hard to bring down Christians. He throws his best (or worst) at us and hopes that it will tear us down. God allows it, just as He did with Job. Sometimes, I wonder what God thinks as He looks at me. Is He testing me to see how I will respond? Is He frustrated with me for not having enough faith? Is He working in me to strengthen me? I don't have all the answers, but I know the One who does and that is what will guide me through. And that is enough for now. And that is enough to give me hope once again.

Mid-Election Day Update

Well, my part in the election process is now complete. As of 11:45, I cast the 345th vote in my voting precint. Andrew cast his much earlier. Emily helped me...sort of.

So far today, I have received two phone messages reminding me to vote today, one before I left home and one while I was out voting and grocery shopping. I will be keeping count of how many more I receive. I expect more, if the pattern of calls leading up to the election are any indication. I have also been invited to watch the election results in person with Congressman Chocola (R.-IN.) I won't be there, but it was nice to be invited.

In non-local election news, ACORN (Association of Community Organizations For Reform Now) or as I prefer to think of them, the "Voter Fraud Nuts", are once again in deep doo-doo. In their most recently detected scheme, ACORN is accused of fraudulently registering thousands of voters in Delaware County, PA. But this is nothing new for ACORN. Take a look at their record, according to this report, filed today by Terrence Scanlon of The Examiner:

"Last Thursday a federal grand jury in Kansas City indicted four persons working for the group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, accusing them of submitting more than 15,000 voter registration forms with fictitious names, phony signatures and bogus addresses."

Scanlon continues writing about the many fraudulent activities associated with ACORN:

"For instance, The Wall Street Journal reported that an Ohio ACORN worker was given crack cocaine in exchange for fraudulent voter registration cards. Many of the newly registered voters were deceased, underage or were named Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy or Jive Turkey....
In Minnesota, authorities founds hundreds of voter registration cards in the trunk of a car owned by a former ACORN worker suspected of registering voters twice so he could double his fees...
In Colorado, one woman admitted to a local television station that she was forging names on voter registration cards in order to help her now-convicted boyfriend collect a $50 bounty for newly registered voters. These incidents were widely reported in the 2004 presidential campaign."

Oh, did I mention that ACORN is a liberal group?

So there you have it. It seems to me that if the Democrats truly have such a fantastic lead in all the key races, then there would be no need to commit voter fraud, would there?

Oh and one more gem for the day...After voting Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) told reporters, "I voted for change...just not for me." Yeah, that sounds about right, don't you think? (I might be slightly misquoting there. I read it, then couldn't find it again. Either way, it's close and it says it all.)

Update: I received yet another call urging me to vote around 4:00. The caller mentioned that she had a "record" that indicated that neither Andrew nor I had voted yet. I informed her that we both had, several hours earlier. That seemed to confuse her. I hope that's not a bad sign!

Election Predictions

Okay, drumroll please....my election predictions are about to be made. (Really, I understand that no one cares, nor are my predictions based on anything very scientific, but still, it isn't going to stop me.)

So here's what I think will happen when all the votes are counted. I think the Republicans will maintain the majority, likely by a slim margin, in both houses. There will not be a huge Democrat victory. In fact, I have a feeling the Democrats will find themselves shocked at how few seats they actually win. After all, they've already measured for drapes and selected fabric swatches for "their" rightful offices in the House and Senate. The interior decorator has been hired, the champagne purchased, the cute young interns pre-selected, the shrimp cocktail thawing for tomorrow night's victory celebration...everything is in place except for the actual votes. You know, I bet a few of them are in place already too.

I wonder if all that stuff is refundable?

Yes, I'm aware that I'm predicting something that is not being said much of anywhere else, but I'm still optimistic despite the biased media's all out doom-and-gloom-for-America, thank-goodness-the-Democrats-are- about-to-win-blitz.

I believe that the Republican base will get out and vote (as history has proven time and again), despite all the negative campaigning, despite all the disgust they may feel towards the current crop of congressmen/women, despite wishing they had better options because in the end, Republicans by and large, understand what their party believes, why they believe it and why the party platform is so absolutely important. Not only do the Republicans know what their party stands for, but they themselves know where they stand on the issues and why it is important to stand strong even through the difficult times. We are not the cut and run party. We are not the party of indecision. We are not the party of despair and short-sightedness. We are not the party out of ideas with nothing to offer.

We are the party who stand strong and support our president and military until the job is done and the world is safer. We are the party who work to strengthen the economy to record levels despite the challenges of an inherited recession, the unspeakable terror of 9/11, and the tragedy of Katrina. We are the party who know what we believe, say what we mean the first time and stand by it, even when that opinion is unpopular. We are the party who offers hope and optimism when everyone else cries doom and gloom. We are the party of ideas, of idealism and of long-term plans. We are the backbone of America, we are the people who still believe that America is great, that is should not apologize for being great and that it can be greater still by electing men and women of honor, integrity and intelligence.

That's why I predict what I predict. The media and the pollsters can say what they will, they can ignore the wonderful men and women in the "fly-over" states all they want, but our votes will be cast tomorrow and counted and they will make a difference.

So, instead of feeling down and depressed about what you hear on TV, remember what is at stake, remember who you are and what you believe, and remember that your vote does matter. And then...go vote!

A Cat Even Malott Can Love

The Staff here at The Right Perspective would like to personally thank the kindly old gentleman who runs Malott's Blog for the thoughtful way in which he continually attempts to draw us into a fight over which is better, the cat or the dog. His attempts are often quite humorous, but still wrong, as I believe that it is possible to be funny and witty and clever...and still stand by an incorrect idea. As a result, the Staff here would like to submit a few photographs of one of our darling kitties as proof that there are some cats that anyone could love....even that curmudgeon, Malott!

Kerry Insults Military and Disgraces Himself (Again)

John Kerry once again proved himself to be yet another anti-Bush, anti-Republican, anti-military lackey who has stepped way over the line with his statements.

In an address given to students at Pasadena City College (while stumping for California Democrat, Phil Angelides), Kerry said, " You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq...". One report states that Kerry's comments were met with cheers and gasps.

In response to Kerry's comments, President Bush said that Kerry owed the entire U.S. military (of which Kerry repeatedly boasted being a part of during his 2004 presidential campaign) and apology. Said Bush, "The senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and shameful. The members of the United States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave, and the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology...Whatever party you're in in America, our troops deserve the full support of our government."

So Kerry stepped in it big-time, once again. But did he have the grace to apologize and stop the damage there? Oh no, he most certainly didn't.

Throughout the rest of the day, Kerry responded to President Bush's remarks with increasinly hostile words. Kerry said, "I am sick and tired of a bunch of despicable Republicans who will not take responsibility for their own mistakes...Enough is enough. We are not going to stand for this. ... The American people are going to take this to the polls next Tuesday."

Of course, Kerry did try (poorly) to cover his rear end by saying that he was making a joke about the Bush administration. He said, "If anyone thinks that a veteran, someone like me, who's been fighting my entire career to provide for veterans, to fight for their benefits, to help honor what their service is, if anybody thinks that a veteran would somehow criticize more than 140,000 troops serving in Iraq and not the president and his people who put them there, they're crazy,".

Well, call me crazy (and I'm sure you would if given the chance), Sen. Kerry, but I'm pretty darn certain that you insulted the military with your statement because you called them uneducated and lazy, with no other options. What about that is complimentary, might I ask?

Then Kerry got really, really ugly (and that's saying something!). Kerry said, "I'm sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did...I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me."

Well Sen. Kerry, you disgust me.

Quotes taken from Fox News.

Muslim Cleric Views Women as Pieces of Meat

This is going to be a short post simply because I don't really think that much needs to be said. Any sane logical human being can read the muslim cleric's comments and judge for themselves what the true muslim view of women is.

Australian muslim cleric Taj El-Din Hamid Halaly had to say, in a sermon to over 500, that women who " 'sway suggestively', wear make-up and no hijab, or Islamic headscarf, for inviting sexual attack." He went on to say, in words that cannot possibly be more degrading, that,

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the back yard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem...".

So basically, if a woman leaves her house with even a tidbit of skin visible, or even if she is covered, but walks with a bit of a natural feminine stride, she is not only vulnerable to sexual attacks, but is inviting them, and thus the sexual predator (uncontrolled muslim male) bares no responsibility for his actions.

Of course, Hilaly "apologized" for any offense that was taken by his comments (but not for the comments themselves). He said, in the ultimate irony, that he was only trying to "protect women's honor".

All I can say to such a waste of humanity is that if cleric Hilaly really cared about protecting the honor of women, he might start by mandating that muslim men act with some honor themselves and stop viewing women as nothing better than a piece of meat.

(Hat tip to Laura Ingraham)

Michael J. Fox: Used in Ad to Push Agenda

As you've probably already heard, there's a bit of controversy surrounding a recent political ad, run by the Democrats, which features Michael J. Fox. Fox, who is making erratic movements and twitches throughout the ad as a result of suffering from Parkinsons' disease, is asking Missouri voters (as well as voters in other key states) to vote for Amendment 2 which is being marketed as an amendment for the continuation of stem cell research. There's a problem or two with the ad, however, that have come to light in the last week.

On Monday, during his weekly radio show, Rush Limbaugh referenced the Fox ad and made quite lengthy comments regarding the subject matter of the ad, Michael Fox and its democrat supporters. I happened to be listening to the original discussion on the subject, so I feel pretty comfortable in saying that, as usual, Rush's remarks were misconstrued and taken out of context. What Rush said, in a nutshell, is this: Fox is either off his medications (for Parkinsons') or is acting. That part gets reported pretty accurately. He did say those things. But what the media fails to report is how it related to the rest of his remarks on the ad. The gist of what Rush was saying is that Democrats have, for years, been putting "victims" in their ads and using these people as "untouchables" to sell their agenda. They do this because they believe that no one will be able to criticize their ads, and when or if someone does, then they can attack the person who dared find fault with their "victim du jour".

Take as an example, the Jersey Girls, 9/11 widows who allowed themselves to be used by the Democrats to push the anti-war, anti-Bush agenda of the left. When Ann Coulter dared to call their use of the widows what it was (as well as the willingness of the widows to be used) she was mercilessly attacked by the left, the media and anyone else foolish enough to be duped by the Democrats' smoke and mirrors act.

Now consider the latest example of how a "victim" is being used to push an agenda. Michael J. Fox is, most assuredly, a victim of Parkinsons' disease. Now before I go any further, let me set the record straight. I have the utmost compassion for those who have Parkinsons'. My late grandfather died of it. My grandmother also has it. I feel nothing but compassion for Fox for having had this terrible disease, particularly at such a relatively young age. I feel quite certain that he is most sincere in his beliefs that stem cell research and raising money and awareness for the disease is his calling. I don't question that. However, I do wonder if he realizes that he is merely a Democrat pawn in a chess game. I wonder if Fox realizes that he is merely the latest "victim" being used to play on the sympathies of well-meaning, yet ill-informed Americans.

Somehow, I suspect that he is aware of his part, though I cannot say that for certain, but something tells me that Fox has not survived the wild world of Hollywood without having some measure of cunning and savvy. My suspicion is much the same as Rush's: Is Michael J. Fox allowing himself to be used (or perhaps it truly is unwittingly) by Democrats to further a larger agenda (federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and cloning)?

Ahhh...the plot thickens....where did "cloning" come into the debate, you might ask? Well, consider the Republican response ad, featuring such celebrities as Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond), Jeff Suppon (awesome St. Louis Cardinals pitcher), Jim Caviezel (The Passion Of Christ) and Kurt Warner (NFL quarterback - I think). Apparently, there is more to Amendment 2 than meets the eye.....or the ad.

Amendment 2 is an attempt to package legalized cloning and donor egg harvesting with the intent of extracting embryonic stem cells (which will then destroy the embryo) for the purpose of research into a nice tidy bill to continue research to cure dreaded diseases like Parkinsons'. After all, who would be against that?

Well, me for one. I do want to find a cure for terrible diseases, but not at the expense of another human life and I find it personally reprehensible when someone tries to sell me on a product that is represented as something entirely different. That's the problem with this ad, along with the Democrats' repeated willingness to use and abuse the most helpless and desperate among us to further their agenda, and the just plain incorrect facts about the effectiveness of embryonic stem cell research for curing diseases. That's the point Rush Limbaugh made. That's the point you need to hear, but won't in the mainstream media. So, I encourage you to watch both ads (the links in this blog should take you to video of both) and judge for yourself which side is telling it like it is.

Go Cardinals!!! and Colts!

Okay, I guess I have to admit it. I'm becoming, thanks to my husband and in-laws' influence, a sports fan. I was sitting in my house last night, alone with full control of the t.v. remote and what did I watch? Game 7 of the Nlcs between the Mets (Boo) and the Cardinals (yay!). Why did I choose to watch baseball? I really don't know. I had every intention of watching whatever I wanted while Andrew was in Washington, but I watched baseball until midnight. What is wrong with me?

We're leaving tonight (hopefully) to drop Miss Emily off with Grandma and Grandpa (or Pa) as he is becoming affectionately known, so that Andrew and I can get away from "the Em-inator" for the weekend. It's partly an early birthday gift from Andrew to me, but also just a much-needed get-away. While I'm sure we'll shop some (Circle Center mall in Indy is always interesting, we're also going to a Colt's football game. We have our Colt's jerseys ready (mine is Marvin Harrison and Andrew will be sporting Peytonand I'm probably more excited about that than the shopping. Again...what's wrong with me?

So sorry Mets and Redskins fans....but GO Cardinals and Colts!!!!!!!!

Hey Democrats...I'm Not Stupid!

I have come to the conclusion that the Democratic party (particularly the ultra-liberal lefties and the media) think that Christian conservative Republicans must be stupid. Absolutely dumber than dirt, that is. After all, they apparently think that they can pull a bunch of "October surprises" out of their bag-o-tricks and fool me right into staying at home on election day...or better yet, voting a straight Democratic ticket. I mean, that has to be the way they are thinking here. They believe I'm a stupid idiot.

Well, here's a news flash: I will be casting my vote on November 7th, come hell or high water, so-to-speak. I would be voting anyhow, but these juvenile political tricks from the democrats have simply made me all the more determined to make certain that I vote and prove a point to the "party of completely wrong and bad ideas".

You see, trotting out Mark Foley as the poster boy for the Republican party just doesn't work for me. Foley is a disgusting example of corruption, but then again, so was Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy and Gerry Studds and so many, many other career politicians. Evil and corruption know no party affiliation. There are plenty of bad people who do bad things who vote Democrat at the ballot box, just as there are plenty of bad Republicans. Only a complete imbecile would believe that just because the democratic leadership found a "bad apple" in the republican House that the whole republican party is evil. But that is what the democrats want me to believe. It's what they believe I will believe, and that is what irritates the crud out of me. They think I'm an imbecile, because I am first and foremost a Christian (or a "religious extremist", meaning I actually try to practice what I preach and take a stand for right and wrong.)

Well guess what democrats? Yep, I'm a Christian. Yep I do care that those who are elected hold themselves to a high moral standard. I believe it matters. But I'm not stupid. My eyes are wide open. I see the agenda that the democrats have laid out. I see the plan the republicans have. Neither is perfect, but both have proven track records, and history has shown time and time again that a conservative approach to government is healthiest for the country and its citizens.

So, nice try (okay not really, it was actually pretty lame), but I'll still be voting Republican on Nov. 7th because I'm not nearly as dumb as you want me to be...but I have a sneaking suspicion that you're about to find that out the hard way.

The Breaking Point

I feel like a rubber band that's stretched to the limit and is just about to snap. Seriously.

Before I go much further, I'm writing this mainly for myself. I have to get some of this off my chest or I'm literally going to explode and frankly, that just can't happen. Also understand that I will not do anything stupid to hurt myself or anyone else. It's not that kind of "snapping". It's more like I will probably chew off someone's head at the slightest little thing because I cannot take one more thing myself. It will probably happen the next time some stupid thoughtless man or woman slams the door in my face or sits back and watches me struggle to push a stroller through a doorway while enjoying their "me" time. That can't happen, though maybe it should once in a while, and so I write.

I simply don't know how to handle everything. I've got a 2 year old who is very strong willed. She doesn't talk, is resisting everything and everyone, is pushing all the wrong buttons and is with me 24/7. I literally have not spent a 24-hour period away from her since her birth. I have no help, except for my husband, but work keeps him too busy and Emily is too stubborn to let him help. I'm sick in my heart because I love her more than she can ever know, and I ache because I wonder if she sees it because it seems like all I do is tell her no and spank her and take away privileges. I hate that. Being "mean" doesn't come naturally to me. It takes effort and I don't like it.

I also ache because I don't know how much of the frustration we both are feeling is due to her not being able to communicate adequately with us. She may have a real problem and so I struggle with knowing how far to push, how much to discipline and how best to do both. It also makes trying to find anyone, outside of the family, to help because although she uses sign language to communicate, the average person wouldn't have a clue what she was trying to tell them. And we don't live close to any family.

Then there's Andrew's work. It's a good job. It's secure. It pays great. But he's never here and he hates that. I'm really beginning to hate it too. One weeks' worth of vacation a year with 12 hour days isn't enough. How much can a company expect of a person with a family? Apparently more. And I'm not sure that either of us is willing to give more. Or can. Or should. But finding another job isn't as easy as it might be with other careers. Suffice it to say that a pay cut would be inevitable, perhaps 50% or more, and that's tough to swallow too. But we're both quickly reaching that breaking point.

Of course, things were looking up. We were supposed to leave Emily with Grandma next weekend (for the first time ever), go to Indianapolis, watch a Colt's game, just have some down time. We have the hotel reservations, the Colt's tickets, Grandma took time off work...and then Andrew calls to say that his job is sending him to Washington, D.C. next Thursday, getting back Friday night. Yeah, we can still go for the weekend, but now I'll be all alone with Emily for 2 days, I won't have any help, I won't be able to pack until he gets home and we probably will be delayed in leaving, cutting our already too-short time away even shorter. It's not his fault. There's nothing that could be done and he feels terrible too, it's just another thing piled on.

Then there's pressure at church. I won't go into it. Suffice it to say that they want more time too and they aren't being nice about it, which kinda hurts because it's not like we aren't trying to give when we can.

There's more, but it's all little unimportant stuff, that on it's own is nothing notable, but on top of everything, just adds to the feeling of helplessness. I just need a break. We need a break. But there's really no break in sight. I need some help, but I don't know where to turn and I've needed it for a long time, but I don't see it coming. I feel tired. Not sleepy-tired, but weary, worn-down, tired. I don't like how I feel anymore. I don't feel optimistic or happy, just down and overwhelmed and frankly kinda angry sometimes. I feel like I'm seconds away from breaking down in tears all the time, which is not really me. I don't want to feel that way and I don't want that to be the mom and wife that my family sees, but I'm not sure what to do about it. It's not fair to my family, and I don't want to snap with them because it's not their fault. I don't want to snap at all. I don't want to get to that point, but I feel it coming and I know I need a break. Maybe I am depressed. I don't know if this is what it feels like or not. I used to have a Dr. that I think I would have talked to by now about this but she is not longer practicing and I don't even know my new Dr. I just don't know who to talk to and I guess maybe I'm hoping that getting this all down on paper, (or computer) will help get it out of my mind and heart quite to much.

So that's it. That's why I'm not really around much or posting anything new. There's already too much on my plate right now. I know I'll pull through this. Things will get better, but at this particular moment, I just need a break from it all...now.

It's All Too Much

Well, there's just not enough time to opine on everything that is happening in the world right now. I've got plenty of opinions on plenty of subjects. Wordy, long-winded opinions, the kind my darling sweet husband might be accused of writing. But I won't do that to my readers (this time). Instead, I'm just going to do a quit hit-and-run post. So take a deep breath...here we go...

Hugo Chavez: He's a communist idiot who is having great fun being able to call the U.S. president, on U.S. soil, "the devil" and telling him, quite literally, that he stinks. Nice. In case you didn't know, as I didn't until this morning, Chavez owns Citgo Oil. I shall do my best to never ever use Citgo again. That'll be a good start to express how I feel about Chavez.

The U.N.: Simply put - the U.N. must go. The idea of allowing someone like Hugo Chavez to call the President of the U.S. "the devil...who smells of sulfur" while sitting in a multi-million dollar building in the U.S. is unbelieveably distasteful to me and millions of other tax-paying Americans. I no longer want any of my tax dollars to go for the support of the U.N. They are useless and they, for the most part, agree with Chavez' opinion of the U.S. and President Bush. So fine, let's just kick out the U.N. Let them find somewhere else to meet. Maybe Cuba would be a good place...or Iran.

NBC and pretty much any t.v. network: Trash, propaganda, anti-Christian in every way. NBC agreed to air Veggie Tales, a Christian cartoon with a Christian theme, then told the producer 2 weeks before it was to begin airing that all references to God and the theme Bible verse must be removed. Meanwhile, Madonna can wear a sparkly crown of thorns and "crucify" herself on a disco-ball cross with NBC's blessing and Rosie O'Donell can say that Christians are equally as bad as muslim terrorists with no regret on ABC. THEY'RE GARBAGE!!

The "Blame America First" crowd: Go join Chavez and Ahmadinejad and the anti-American U.N. in Cuba or Iran. See how you like it without America's support. Go with my blessing and good riddance, because if I hear one more person say that America brought this on ourselves, I think I'm going to explode.

Muslims and the Pope: I'll post more on this when I have a chance, but for now suffice it to say...if he was trying to prove a point, the pope could not have done a nicer job (and I'm not Catholic). Score one for the Pope. (I only wish President Bush had said it instead.)

And on a more personal note, little 2 year old Kayden is in very bad shape, with his too-young life on the line. For those who pray, pray for peace, comfort, strength and healing (in many ways).

Some days, it's all just too much.

Christina Does "Meet The Press"

Okay, I'm not proud of it, but I'll admit it...I listen to "Meet the Press" (or Meet the Depressed, as my dear husband glibbly called it yesterday) while driving home from church each Sunday. It's a half-hour commute, so I usually only hear the first 30 minutes or so, but based upon that, I have decided that I no longer need to tune in. After all, I think I've got the basic idea down pat now.

For those who are not familiar with the format of the program, let me air the typical transcript of the first 30 minutes:

Tim Russert (host): Today on Meet the Press, we'll talk with Senator Joe Biden, democrat from Delaware and the Secretary of State under the current embroiled republican administration, Condoleeza Rice. Hello and welcome to both of you today. Let me begin with Secretary of State Rice. Ms. Rice, knowing what you know today, that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would you still have supported the President's decision to go to war?

Rice: Well Tim, the information we had at the time seemed credible and was circulated among several governments and believed by everyone who received the information. As a result, we felt there was a solid justification for going to war in Iraq. Both Democrats and Republicans alike saw the same intelligence and voted for the war.

Russert: But knowing what you know now, that there absolutely were no WMDs, would you have supported the President's decision to go to war in Iraq?

Rice: Tim, the administration was given information that was credible at the time and we were forced to make a decision...would we allow Sadam to continue to gather WMDs and hope that this brutal dictator would not use them, as he had in the past, or would we take action against a dictator who had consistently defied U.N. resolution after resolution in the hopes of stopping him before he posed a greater danger to his own people or the U.S. The choice to take the war to the enemy seemed obvious.

Russert: But Madam Secretary (full of sarcasm) there were no weapons of mass destruction. Would you still support the decision of this administration to go to war?

Rice: Well actually Tim, there were WMDs found. Perhaps they were not found in the quantities that our intelligence had indicated, but they were there in Iraq. There is also evidence that they may have been hidden or moved out of the country just prior to the U.S. invasion, so yes, I stand behind my decision, as does the President.

Russert: But there were no WMDs. Sadam didn't have stock-piles of WMDs. He had not been gathering WMDs. Knowing this, would you still have supported the administration's disastrous decision to go into a pre-emptive war with a country that had no ties with the War on Terror?

Rice: Yes, Tim, as I said before, I would still support this war, based on the intelligence we had at the time, and even now, Iraq has a much brighter future without Sadam Hussein at the helm. The Iraqi people now have a chance at freedom. Women can now vote. Children can now get an education...

Russert: But we entered into this supposed "War on Terror" with a country that had no ties to terror. What has Iraq ever done to us? Why didn't we invade Iran instead? Why didn't we try diplomacy first? Why did the President and this administration rush into a war based on faulty intelligence?

Rice: Tim, as I said before, we acted on the intelligence we had at the time, which was deemed by many, many others on both sides of the political aisle to be credible. WMDs were found and we deposed the region of a terrible dictator who did support terrorism. We had tried diplomacy through at least 17 different U.N. resolutions and sanctions, all of which Sadam ignored. We had no other option.

Russert: But the intelligence was faulty. There were no WMDs and now we are stuck in a quagmire, the likes of which have not been seen since Vietnam. Now let's talk with democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. Sen. Biden, based upon what we now know for a fact, that Iraq and Sadam did not have weapons of mass destruction, would you still vote for this pre-emptive war in Iraq?

Biden: Absolutely not, Tim. I believe this administration acted foolishly and did not want to listen to any critics of the plan for war. They wanted to get rid of Sadam Hussein and they used the guise of WMDs to get the American people and it's representatives in Congress behind the plan. They used faulty intelligence to make the situation appear far worse than it was and of course we believed the intelligence because we did not believe that the White House would lead us astray, yet now here we are 5 years later, stuck in a terrible situation in Iraq, with our brave young men and women in uniform dying by the thousands, because of a personal vendetta. This situation makes me sick. Of course if I had known that the intelligence was false and that there was no real plan for the war and that the situation would be this out of control, I would not have voted for the war. In fact, I think we should bring our troops home as soon as possible. This is getting ridiculous.

(Meanwhile, Condi's head explodes at the absurdity of it all.)

Well, I think you get the idea. The guests are different each week, but the topic and the questions are almost identical. Russert must not have any new ideas. Or maybe he's just stuck on stupid. That gets my vote.

Rosie O'Donell's "View" of Christianity

I have never been a big fan of Rosie O'Donell, but I can guarantee that I will never watch, read or support anything she has a part in ever again. Her latest comments are absolutely infuriating...so much so that I really don't have the words to adequately express how I feel right now. Perhaps I should cool down first, but I don't think time will make her comments any less maddening.

According to a message from the American Family Association, Rosie O'Donell made the following comment on ABC's "The View" this week:

" 'Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state,' O'Donnell said. She had been saying that America was attacked 'not by a nation.' She continued: 'And as a result of the attack and the killing of 3,000 innocent people, we invaded two countries and killed innocent people.' Even her liberal co-hosts were shocked by her comments. "

The fact that even the other very liberal co-hosts of "The View" were shocked by her comments is pretty amazing. Joy Behar, who is neither conservative nor Republican, nor a supporter of this administration disagreed with O'Donell. She differentiated between the muslim terrorists and Christians by pointing out one major difference: Christians are not trying to kill anyone, much less commit mass murder, as a part of their faith. Radical muslims are. She said, " 'This group (radical Muslims) is threatening to kill us.' Replied O'Donnell: 'No, but we are bombing innocent people in other countries. True or false?' "

Ummm...FALSE, Rosie! The United States of America is not off on a killing spree of innocent civilians, nor is it doing any killing in the name of Christ. The U.S. is defending itself against terrorism by seeking out muslim terrorists and capturing those they can and killing those who will not be captured, all while doing more than they sometimes should and thus putting the lives of our men and women in uniform at great risk, to avoid innocent civilian casualties. Meanwhile, the muslim terrorists routinely kill innocent civilians and hide behind women and children and in mosques in order to make their capture far more difficult.

When was the last time a Christian group did that, Rosie?

According to the AFA message, neither O'Donell nor ABC has apologized for the comments. Nor do I expect them to. After all, it's always open season on Christianity. Still, I will be emailing ABC to express my outrage at the comments and demand an apology, at least from ABC. I don't care if Rosie apologizes or not...she obviously believes what she says, so any apology would be empty.

Are We Serious About Winning the War?

Well, as requested by jihadi tracker, the "wordsmith" (his/her word, not mine) is back. How could I not return after such flattery? (Or was that mockery?)

I've been trying to decide what to write about for some time now. I think I have writer's block. Not the kind of lack-of-creativity writer's block, but more of the type where there are tons of topics that catch my interest, but I can't seem to get behind any of them enough to use my precious time to opine upon them. After all, I'm only alotted 2 hours of "Mom Time" per day by her royal highness, the almost 2-year-old toddler, Miss Emily.

So, after perusing the various news headlines and reading all sorts of infuriating "reports", I've decided to just go out on my own with an opinion piece. So, this one is for you, jihadi tracker.
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The question that has been floating around in my mind lately is this: Is America really serious about winning the war? The answer I have come up with is a resounding No. We are not serious about winning in Iraq. We are not serious about winning against illegal immigration. We are most definitely not serious about winning against islamo-facism. We are not serious about winning the moral battles here at home, either. As a whole, the nation seems content with the status quo. After all, if nobody's happy, then I guess neither side has won, right?

That's what it all comes down to in the end. We are once again so completely caught up in partisan political posturing that we are setting ourselves up for trouble. After all, hasn't this summer seemed eerily reminiscent of a summer about 5 years ago, before the single worst act of terrorism in recent history took place on American soil?

It seems to me that 5 summers' ago, American's were more preoccupied with the Chandra Levy mystery and the bitter political fight over the "illegitimate" election of President Bush than with terrorism. We never even gave it a thought.

Then September 11, 2001, happened. Suddenly, America had a new focus. We had been attacked. We had been dealt a terrible death blow. We had lost thousands of innocent civilians in an act of war. We were hurting. We were searching for answers and leadership. We were angry and we were determined to find and destroy whoever had done this to us. We were focused, determined and fairly united...for a little while.

We all agreed that we had to act, that we had to take the battle to the enemy. We all waved our flags and supported our troops and voted for the war....before it started taking too long. Then about half of us started to get impatient and in doing so, lost their focus.

Half of us continued in our support of the war and the troops and for victory. The other half grew weary of fighting and impatient, in part because they never really understood who and why we were fighting in the first place.

Over time, the discontent of the other half grew and deepened, causing a further lack of focus and political rancor became the battle of the day, instead of fighting a war for our lives.

As a result, the resolute half had to work twice as hard to pick up the slack, all the while fending off attacks from the other half who had given up on the real battle.

And so, this summer and even now, we find ourselves, our America, torn in two, with no real focus on what is truly important. Instead, our summer was filled with a preoccupation over the man who claimed he killed Jon Benet Ramsey and Tom and Katie's baby hysteria. We've spent the summer seeing which party can run the meanest campaign ads and we've argued on whether we are winning the war....all instead of trying to figure out how to win.

It's discouraging. We apparently have learned nothing.

Well, some of us learned our lesson. Some of us are still doggedly supporting our troops and our President and our country. Some of us still remember who attacked us and why we take the fight to them and why we must win and win decisively.

But the other half still hasn't figured it out. They will continue to call for our pullout in Iraq, which will be disastrous and will make all the human sacrifices of our men and women in uniform be in vain. They will continue to push for amnesty for illegal aliens, which will put our national security at risk. They will continue to bow to the muslim leadership and be too afraid to stand up to them, affording the terrorists civil rights they do not deserve and would seek to destroy for the rest of us. They will continue to push for homosexual "marriage" and abortion "rights" and free speech-so-long-as-you're-not-a-Christian rights and in doing so, further erode what makes America special. They will stand firm for all the wrong things and continue to distract the resolute half from focusing on winning the war for our future.

So, in short, we are not yet serious about winning the war. Apparently, losing over 3,000 of our innocent citizens was not enough. So what will it take? I don't think I want to know. But what I do know is this: Until we get serious about winning, until we identify and totally anihilate the enemy, we will be living in danger because the enemy is focused and determined and undistracted and they know how to use our distractions against us. I wonder when we will become that serious about this struggle for our freedom?