"It is right to begin with the obligations of home, and, while these are overlooked and neglected, no other duties can possibly be substituted for them." - Charles Dickens
"A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but a foolish man's heart directs him toward the left." -- Ecclesiastes 10:2
"I believe it to be a great mistake to present Christianity as something charming and popular with no offense in it....We cannot blink at the fact that gentle Jesus meek and mild was so stiff in his opinions and so inflammatory in his language that he was thrown out of church, stoned, hunted from place to place, and finally gibbeted as a firebrand and a public danger. Whatever his peace was, it was not the peace of an amiable indifference."--Dorothy Sayers
"Thirteenth Rule. To be right in everything, we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it, believing that between Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and the Church, His Bride, there is the same Spirit which governs and directs us for the salvation of our souls. "St. Ignatius Loyola.
"There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church -- which is, of course, quite a different thing." -- Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
"Like the sun rising over the mountans of the Lord is the beauty of a good wife in a well-kept house."--Sirach 26:21
"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. "C.S. Lewis
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for [a] his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself." Ez 33:7-9
"Grandchildren are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their parentage." Proverbs 17:6
"Behold, sons are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3
"Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him." Soujourner Truth
"I am going on a diet. From this day forward, I pledge there will be no pork chop too succulent! No donut too tasty! No pizza too laden with delicious toppings to prevent me from reaching my scientifically-determined ideal weight! As God as my witness, I'll always be hungry again!"Homer Simpson
"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt
"And today I go down to the secular equivalent of hell, the secretary of state's office" Jane at Vox Lauri Blog
"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.” - William G. McAdoo
"Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct." PP1792 Catechism Catholic Church.
"I've also been reading this blog for some time and just noticed I hadn't added you to my favorite blogs. Done!" The Mighty Barrister 5/21/04
"I could certainly continue to go back and forth (and believe me, I would love to!!!!!), but that would be answering a fool according to his folly." Amy-anti-Catholic blogger at Blessed Motherhood 7/07/07!
"You are tenacious. I love a woman who won't give up." William Luse 6/1/04
"Kudos also to Elena, who proved that she can take it as well as she can dish it." TSO 6/4/04
"the wonderful Elena" Nathan Nelson 8/1/04
"Elena is is so many shades of stupid they don't make a Crayola box big enough to begin coloring her" Anonymous TWA blog 2/05
"Well, Elena cuts to the chase. Says it like it is and doesn't mince her words." Alexa of Domestic Excellence
"Elena, a woman I have little in common with but have come to be fond of" Cecily of and I Wasted all that Birth Control 9/15/05
"Your witness is horrendous" JCecil of Liberal Catholic News
"Truth, love, charity, and, oh yeah, sensitivity, decorum, good taste and a dollop of wit. That's more like it. Keep rockin'!" PMC 12/05
"Where's Elena? We need Elena." Kathryn the Daring Young Mom 2/17/06
"Elena, I quake at the sound of your name" John B-Catholic Packer Fan 8-12-04
"I like your writing and your spunk." Todd Flowerday, Catholic Sensibility 11-8-04
"I have no problem with Elena. I find her answers to be quite lucid, witty, and insightful." David B commenting on In Today's News 10/29/05
"She's not cranky, she just senses happiness and snuffs it out." Gabe, age 9, after being scolded for not being ready for swim practice. 12/04
"Elena of My Domestic Church get’s my nomination for living a life of loveliness that I could only ever dream of. She’s an awesome wife and mother, a deeply committed Catholic, a proponant of pro-life issues, a hands on make-and-bake-and-cut-and-stick-musical-momma, a prayerful, compassionate, thoughtful and passionate woman who endeavours to live a christocentric life in her own euphonious way. Yes, I am proud to know her as a blog buddy and sharing in her trials and her triumphs via reading her blog over the last few years has impacted me more than she could know… and always for the better." Deb from Ukok's Place 08/2007
"i have a feeling elena never moves on from anything. other than the couch to the fridge." 08/2007 commenter on the now defunct Rock Star Mommy Blog.
" I think you're a shrew." Anne Basso 7/08
"Even with our differences, I will say one thing--she's smart. I may not always agree with what she says, but she doesn't spout unsupported garbage as fact." Ruthjoec aka JAnn from AOL Catholic message boards and This That and the Other Thing Blog
"I was wrong. You were right. God bless you" T from LO2W blog 3/6/2008
"This is really no woman to be giving out religious advice." Ashley (20 yr old anti-Catholic www.keepingthehome.com supporter) . 04/2008
"Elena, You completely 'foul up' the catechism. I repeat you are a nice lady, but your lack of education and knowledge, as your distorted answers show," Jack from Liberal Catholic Sports Music 1/9/2009
"The post I really love, though is 28 Things I Learned About Marriage in 28 Years at My Domestic Church. In fact, it's so good I plan to show it on the first day of class for my Family and Society course this." Sister Edith at Monastic Musings
"When Elena turns the other cheek, it's so she can whip around the other side with full force!" Mr. Pete (My Domestic Husband!)
Now this is why I think Calvin and Sarah will eventually end up married. Any couple that can masterfully win the two-person bag race (well- they had the lead anyway until Calvin reached over and knocked down his brothers) can probably work together to figure out the rest of life's problems!
Sarah spent the whole day with us Saturday. She met a lot of extended family on Mr. Pete's side of the family. She endured bag races and water balloon tosses as well as a baseball game. I told Sarah that if Calvin doesn't marry her, we would adopt her ! and did I mention she can bake?
I'm having a go-round with Janette at Ground Level in Kansas over here. We have done this dance a few times before over the past decade - we knew each other at the old AOL message boards. This will blow over and we'll probably do another 10.
Jennie's Blog continues to heat up and is attracting more Catholic and anti-Catholic apologists every day! (although I'm not too sure that Jennie is so happy with that.)
My co-blogger Kelly over at Visits to Candyland has a fascinating post on William Webster, who seems to be the darling of a number of anti-Catholic bloggers.
The young woman now honored with such beautiful titles as "the Lily of the Mohawks" and "the Wonderworker of the New World" was born in 1656 at Ossernenon, a village of longhouses which stood on a high hill overlooking the Mohawk River. The daughter of a Turtle Clan chief and a Christian Algonquin captive, she was orphaned at the age of four when a smallpox epidemic decimated Ossernenon. With a pockmarked face and damaged eyesight from her own struggle with the dreaded disease, Tekakwitha was raised in the longhouse of her father's brother and successor.
When Tekakwitha was in her late teens, French Jesuits established a mission in her uncle's village. The Mohawk chief distrusted and disliked the Christian Blackrobes, but grudgingly allowed their presence as a party of a treaty with the French.
Despite her uncle's stern objection to the Blackrobes and their faith, Tekakwitha was deeply impressed by their words — perhaps they brought back childhood memories of her mother's whispered prayers — and gladly risked her family's disapproval to be baptized. With a joyful heart, she became a follower of Christ and took the name Catherine, in her language, Kateri. Subjected to persecution in her village, she fled over 300 miles to the safety of Caughnawaga, a mission village near the French settlement of Montreal. In this place, often called the Praying Castle, her already deep faith flourished. She died there several years later at the age of 24. Devotion to the holy girl began almost immediately. She was beatified on June 20, 1980 and is now one miracle away from sainthood.
In the familiar prayer for her canonization, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha is referred to as "this young lover of Jesus and of His Cross." Her great devotion to Our Lord is one of the most profound aspects of her story and one that is occasionally overlooked these days when her life is simplified and sentimentalized. Yet it was Kateri herself who said, "I have given my soul to Jesus in the Eucharist and my body to Jesus on the Cross." From the Lily and the Cross.
Ah... so all of your "catholics" that voted for Obama and didn't think he could change the state of abortion in this country one way or another... here you go. Another hopey changing thing that makes it look pretty bad for the unborn.
I blogged back on June 1 about the PLAN test. This is the pre-test for the ACT exam which is usually given in the sophomore year.
Sam got his results back and we saw a lot of improvement from last year. I can clearly see how he did by looking at the graphs. The results also tell me that he is above college readiness in math and reading!! Yeah! At college readiness for English but below for science- so I know what we have to work on!
Some other neat features of the PLAN test - they give you the answers from the test so that you can actually review them in the answer book to see what you missed! They also provide concrete suggestions on how to improve in those areas.
Finally they give you an idea of how you would currently score on the ACT and what types of colleges would be interested in those scores. I think that is very helpful.
I am looking forward to sharing these results with our superintendent when we re-notify for next year, and also with our reading specialist and portfolio evaluator who has been so helpful to me over the past years.
I feel kind of silly still doing these since the Simple Woman site is shut down for the summer. I'm not sure why I continue to link to it except we were asked to. At this point I guess I am really keeping it up because I enjoy doing these, and it makes a nice snap shot of my life every week, and because I miss it when I don't. Maybe my kids will enjoy reading these in the future.
Outside my window...
The sky is blue and bright. I think that makes it three weeks in a row.
I am thinking...
about my mother almost all the time. Mondays' are the hardest because she died on Monday.
I am thankful for... good health. I also thankful that I have a bit of money from mom to tied me over while Mr. Pete's business slows down. It's not that his work load slows down, it's that school systems just quit paying over the summertime and that makes it tough. For years now I have hated summer because it just meant greater hardship for our family. This year that pressure is off.
From the learning rooms...I got the results from Sam's PLAN test back and was very pleased. I will post about that for the Carnival tomorrow. We continue to plug away. Our meeting with our portfolio evaluator is in five weeks!
From the kitchen... I'm thinking Shepherd's pie.
I am wearing...blue capris and a white T-shirt. Very comfortable.
I am creating... or rather completing paper work to get all of my thank you notes out and all of the other paper work to tie up my mom's business stuff.
I am going... to keep working on diet and exercise. I realized as I was putting together all of the photos of my mom that there will be fewer pictures of me because I shun the camera unless I am behind it! That's a little selfish. So I'm going to continue to work on that without becoming obsessed with it.
I am hoping... just to get through the month, get all the paper work done, finish homeschool, making it through our appointment with our evaluator and then taking a break for a few weeks!
I am hearing... The air conditioner which actually masks the usual buzzing in my ears.
Around the house... I hate this category. It is becoming what "outside the window" use to be. So here's what I honestly want to write - around the house is a mess. It will always be a mess because there are 8 people living here, 5 of them are male and one of them is 4 years old! Yes I have help, but the older ones clean as if it is a penance to get through instead of love for the homestead. And it shows. I am one person who also works out of the house as well as homeschools and prepares most of the family's meals. And why I would love the place to look like a show room - it never will until the last one leaves the house and I can count on keeping stuff the way I want to keep it. I might even have to outlive my husband for that to occur! In the meantime I love my family more than the house and so if it looks perpetually trashed at least in one room or another, so be it. That's just how it is.
A few plans for the rest of the week: writing some funeral thank you cards, and paperwork. I also am working to bring our homeschool blog up to date before the evaluation.
A picture I am sharing:
My three oldest boys getting ready to compete against each other in the bag race at the family reunion. Calvin is letting them know that he will remain undefeated in this event - and he was. In their version tackling is involved.
When the eyes are glassy and fixed, death normally occurs within hours.
This would have been a nice piece of information to have ahead of time! That hospice was almost worthless. - post by mydomesticchurch
As death does approach, breathing may become labored with the person gasping for air. A low throaty gurgling is common and is often referred to as the death rattle. These breaths will slow and come further and further apart until the final breath is taken
This too, would have been a good piece of information to have! - post by mydomesticchurch
President Obama owes his victory in part to many factors beyond his control: a tanking economy, an unpopular Republican Party, an opponent's mind-bogglingly disastrous campaign, to name a few. But make no mistake about it -- without Obama's ability to reach across ideological lines and unite disparate groups behind common values, the Republicans would surely have emerged victorious last November.
the president pointed to several possible ways to break the stalemate and find common ground on abortion:
On the idea of helping young people make smart choices so that they are not engaging in casual sexual activity that can lead to unwanted pregnancies, on the importance of adoption as a option, an alternative to abortion, on caring for pregnant women so that it is easier for them to support children, those are immediately three areas where I would be surprised if we don't have some pretty significant areas of agreement.
The Gilda Radner Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry recommends that women who have at least one close relative with ovarian cancer have a 1) pelvic examination, 2) a vaginal ultrasound to look for ovarian tumors, 3) a blood test called a CA125 test that can detect early ovarian cancer, every six months.
Although such testing is probably not appropriate for everyone, women who have a family history of ovarian cancer are at high enough risk of developing ovarian cancer to justify the extra tests. This is especially true for women who have a mother or sister who developed ovarian cancer at or before age 45 years.
I can’t say that it was just that she was a woman. There are some people in Congress who would criticize severely anyone President Obama nominated. They’ll seize on any handle.
The Democrats did the same thing with everyone the Republicans have put on the bench as well. Does Robert Bork ring a bell? I think that's part of the checks and balances so I really think it's part of the system we just expect. - post by mydomesticchurch
Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.
Ginsberg outs herself as a eugenics supporter. Why are Democratic African American women so supportive of her? - post by mydomesticchurch
This is a leftist blog that I can actually respect, even if I don't agree with it. Check out her commentary on Sarah Palin! Actually fair and balanced - something usually associated with right wing blogs! This might be a new one for the blog roll!
1. Our pastor is away for a well-deserved 2 week+ vacation. When Mr. Pete found out about it he looked at me with that wry smile and said, "I should've been a priest." It's true that priests get a lot more vacation than Mr. Pete does. I'd like to think that there are some benefits to marriage and family life that make up for that, but I guess that would depend on what day you ask him!
2. My littlest daughter is fearless. I took her to the wild animal show at the library yesterday and every time the trainer asked for a volunteer to go up and pet one of the exotic animals (from exotic African Cockroach
to albino python
to chinchilla) she raised her hand! She finally got to go up and touch the Lion faced rabbit!
It's amazing to me that she would be so willing to volunteer to go up all by herself AND that she has absolutely no fear of any of the animals.
3. Noah surprises me with his ability to remember detail. He remembered from the show the difference between a tortoise and a turtle, and how the chinchilla takes a bath. Nice to know he was not only listening and enjoying the show, but learning some things as well. Do you know the difference between a tortoise and a turtle?
4. I think one of my goddaughters is living with her boyfriend in another state and her parents seem fine with it. I feel a little guilty about this because we have always had a long-distance relationship since she was little. So I'm going to do something sneaky and underhanded that my mother would have done if it were her goddaughter - I'm going to pray for her harder in a very focused way. Sending little religious gifts now and then wouldn't hurt either.
I tell the story to the Pre-Cana couples every year that when I was in my 20s and sort of drifting away from the Catholic Church (while still hanging on to the edge by my pinky toenail!) my mother would persist in sending me religious gifts and articles. Many of these, I am ashamed to say, I threw away. But many others I tossed into a closet or drawers. When I reverted back to my Catholic faith with enthusiasm, I poured over all of those books and booklets and put the religious articles on my walls and around my home. I was so happy to have them then!
And maybe that's what my mother knew all along?
5. When a loved one is dying it tests your faith. I had to remind myself of a concrete reason of why I believe in all of it, God, guardian angels, the afterlife etc. I was sharing this with a friend who gave me her guardian angel story. She was driving with her kids on a stormy winter night and some stopped in front of her and she started to skid. Suddenly she heard a voice say, "turn now!" She made a sharp turn and ended up going off the road a bit but she got control of her vehicle and made it back. The next day she went to examine where she had turned so suddenly and noticed that she had missed hitting some poles and other items. Had she hesitated obeying the voice she would have had a collision. Had she not heard the voice at all, she probably would have rear-ended the car in front of her. Guardian angel story? I think so.
6. With my mother's passing I am getting some funds from insurances and other places. And I feel soooo guilty about it. My sister gave me some of the money from her savings account and I can barely make myself spend any of it. Mr. Pete thinks I'm nuts but I can't get the image of the last hour I spent with my mother out of my head and it reminds me that she had to go through that so that I could get this money and then I don't want any of it. This is really an unexpected emotion. I have always thought in the past that it was good if parents can leave something for their children although there is certainly no obligation to. When Mr. Pete's mom died they had enough money to throw a big party for all the kids and their families and that's what they did. That seemed right and good. But I guess I never felt so acutely the reality that someone has to DIE to leave an inheritance. Am I whacky or is this just part of grief?
7. Michael Jackson tragic life has been on my mind a lot. Some want to idolize him and others want to demonize him. I think the truth is in the middle. I think he was the victim of child abuse and neglect and it made him the man he grew up to be. The funny thing is, if he hadn't had the fame and fortune, he probably at some point would have had to quit blaming his father for his messed up childhood and taken responsibility for his own life. But the money made it easier for him to wallow in his lost childhood miseries, and I think that is what ultimately cost him his life at such a young age. What a waste.
well as I know someone who thinks we are better off now than at the end of the last administration it doesn't surprise me at all. If all one reads is liberal tripe, then anything that comes out of the anointed one's mouth is believable.
President Obama is selling 3.5% economic growth next year as part of his deficit reduction plan. The credit markets obviously aren't buying this. It is a wonder that anyone believes a word coming out of this administration on fiscal and economic matters.
Sam's math tutor has written a book of corny jokes called the Almost Joke Book It should be available on Amazon very soon, but I am getting an autographed copy next week when he comes in to start Sam on Algebra 2!
Mr. Drexler is the king of the corny jokes so if you like good clean fun, this would be a good book to check out! Might make a good stocking stuffer this Christmas too!
1. We actually had a great time at the Fourth of July with Calvin's girlfriend's family at the park for a picnic. It was nice sharing stories and getting to know some new people and seeing Sarah with them. New tradition? Maybe!
2. I started homeschool up again. Sigh... half heartedly but it is a start.
3. I rejoined Weight Watchers online. I just missed the accountability that I had with them and I also like getting "credit" for working out. Someone even if it doesn't show on the scale, to have it show up on your points for the week is nice.
Bonus success! #2 son passed his written driver's test and now has a temporary driver's license so that he can learn to drive in the state of Ohio. (you have been warned!) So far I have let him drive to church twice and to the grocery store once. No mishaps as of yet!
I am a big fan of the Carpenters. One of my favorite songs from their repertoire is Rainy Days on Mondays and several of the lines seem to fit how I'm feeling these days:
Talkin' to myself and feelin' old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
What I've got they used to call the blues
Nothin' is really wrong
Feelin' like I don't belong
What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out
We know what it's all about
I spent so much time trying to cajole and encourage my mother to feel better and get better and seek treatments to get healthy that I didn't realize that I had heaped up a lot of denial. When she was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma and given a life expectancy of five years, I assured myself that she would prove them wrong and to a certain extent she did. Her myeloma progressed very very slowly, and after our baby girl was born and named for her, I was certain that would be the incentive she would need to keep on the road to relatively good health and long life. And even though I knew that the institution of medicine is hardly foolproof, I trusted them to take care of mom at her monthly oncology appointments. The diagnosis of stage IIIc ovarian cancer completely blind sighted all of us. How could you possibly be seeing an oncologist monthly for one type cancer and have him totally miss the new more deadly cancer inside of your body? I still can't wrap my mind around that.
So there's that. There were the almost daily visits, sometimes twice a day for over 12 weeks, to visit and encourage mom in the hospital, in the rehab center, in the nursing home, in the hospital again and then back at the nursing home. Those visits took a great deal of time and effort every day but they became a way of life.
And immediately after mom died, there was the busy work of preparing for the funeral and the luncheon. And the funny thing is, I have done this before. I knew that as soon as the last person left the luncheon, it would just us. Everyone goes back to their daily lives and we would have to figure out what the new normal is.
I can't say that I miss the daily visits. Those were getting harder and harder to endure the closer we came to the end. But what I miss now are the way things use to be, before the illness. When the phone rings now in the morning, my first thought is, "Oh, that's mom." And when something funny or interesting happens during the day, my first thought is, "I'm going to call mom, she'll like this." And of course I can't. There will be no grandparents day this year for us, no plans to take mom to the family reunion, no trips to the park, none of it. And that's what I'm missing.
Yesterday I did get two phone calls in the morning. One of them was about my participation in the youth group as a parent adviser and I said no thanks. And when the caller asked how I was doing I said that I knew there would be a let down after the funeral, and then when she asked if I was feeling let down, the tears came and I couldn't stop them. Just weird stuff like that.
On Tuesday I took Sam to take his test to get his temporary driver's license (second attempt) and while he was testing I was reading a book about how we handle death. One part of the book really stood out to me. It said that people will look at the death of an older person as "she had along life," "she isn't suffering any more," "she's in a better place," etc. And it's all true. I can accept all of it. I've probably even said some of it to other people! But it was still my mother and in my mind's eye she's not an 81 year old cachectic cancer patient. She's a 30-something mom taking me for walks, and teaching me to tie my shoes, driving me to my first dancing classes and telling me fascinating stories along the way. Or she's the 40-something mom, president of the band boosters, supporting my sister and me in all of our activities while holding down a teaching job. I see the musician, the pianist and organist that everyone depends on and admires for her great skill and technique. I hear the lovely soprano voice and the clear diction. I see the grandma driving kids to soccer and rocking babies. And I miss that and I want it back.
A lady on the 4Reallearningforums shared this with me:
I have to share- while at Mass one Mother's Day, many years ago, I saw an older gentleman (about early 80's) who was standing in the vestibule, visibly shaken and crying. I went to another lady, as I had a cranky toddler, and asked her to see if he was ok. She did, and I watched her talk to him, smile and hug him, and she came back. I asked if he was ok, and she said, yes, he said he was just missing his mom.
Sympathy cards are still trickling in. I got a letter from church about how they're there if I need anything. But honestly, I don't think there's any help for what I really need. This is the part you just have to get through. This is grief. God, I'm so tired of grieving.
Best birth is running a series of interviews with celebrity moms who have had natural childbirths and homebirths. The firs one up is Cindy Crawford. The first episode was very enjoyable. Her experiences reminded me a lot of what it was like the first time to decide to give birth at home.
So I asked this lady to give me a list of 10 items to read! None were forthcoming, however yesterday she shared with her readers the depth and breadth of her political/social bibliography and it included:
CSPAN
CNBC
The News Hour(PBS)
The BBC
Reading the New York Times and Wall Street Journal
While I'm not surprised that this lady leans to left, I am surprised that she still considers herself conservative. Possibly a left leaning moderate, but conservative? I don't think so.
*****************
On the theological front, Jennie from Pilgrims's Daughter wants me to accept sola scriptura. And when I can't do it from her proof texts, she provides me with links like this one. Puhlease.
The federal picture is so bleak because the Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form.
The Obama administration has no shame, and is willing to abandon reason altogether to achieve its short-term political goals. Ronald Reagan ran up big deficits in part because he believed that his tax cuts would produce economic growth, and ultimately pay for themselves. He may well have been excessively optimistic about the merits of tax cuts, but at least he had a story.
Obama has no story. Nobody believes that his unprecedented expansion of the welfare state will lead to enough economic growth. Nobody believes that it will pay for itself. Everyone understands that higher spending today begets higher spending tomorrow. That means that his economic strategy simply doesn’t add up.
Back in the 1980s, Reagan’s own economist, Martin Feldstein, spoke up when he felt that the Reagan administration was pushing the deficit too far. Where are the economists with such character today? Apparently, the job description for economists has transformed from recommending policies that are defensible to defending whatever policies that the political hacks in the West Wing dream up.
With the price tag of Obama-care likely to exceed $1 trillion, moderate Democrats face a simple choice. They can jump off the cliff with the president, or they can stay true to the principles that they have espoused throughout their careers.
There are reassuring signs that principle is winning. One of the most expensive components of the Obama plan is the so- called public-insurance option, which opponents fear would result in massive government subsidies. Senator Mary Landrieu said that she is “not open” to a public option that will compete with private insurance.
I first wrote this in 2007, but it still gets a few hits and I thought it was a good one to re-run. Hope some of you find it helpful!
1. Little boys are supposed to be active! They're wired that way. If school didn't exist, and they were supposed to depend on their own skills to survive, they would have to be quite physically active! Years of civilization hasn't changed how God has programmed them! So don't fight it... work with it!
2. That said, sometimes little boys do have to settle down to learn something. The best little boy tamer I know of is swimming. Put them in swim classes or let them play in the pool at the Y as often as possible. They're just more malleable after they have been fighting that water for a couple of hours!
3. Moms were little girls once. We don't have the experience of being little boys. So tap into the wealth of information from your husband, father, brother, uncles, etc. Find out what they were interested in as kids, how they felt, and what worked the best for them when they were trying to learn something.
4. Don't be afraid to have a movie day. I have tried to have boy movies around to break up the monotany of daily school work. I remember the first time I brought home Rocky from the library and my boys had never seen it before. As I sat in the room with them, you could practically feel the testosterone oozing off of the walls. They were into it and they were excited. That really did give me the opportunity to discuss values, morals, virtues and even a unit study on boxing and physical fitness.
5. Remember the stories you read should appeal to boys as well! Use your husband as a guide here as to what would be appealing to boys. My little boys liked Captain Underpants and Horrible Harry . They also liked the The Boxcar Children, Hardy Boys and Harry Potter (Books 1-6). Books with strong father figures in them and a lot of adventure always appeal to young boys. When Calvin was Jr. high aged I had him listen to Lord of the Flies on tape. I read it in high school, but I just sensed that he was ready for it and he was. In that sense he was much more mature than I was at that age.
6. Science needs to be active. Do the experiments, visit planetariums, grow a garden. Little girls like these things too, but they really capture the attention of little boys and makes it possible for you to teach them something.
7. Be very careful how to talk to these little guys. We want to build them up not tear them down. One harsh word from a mom can scar deeply and for a long time.
8. Boys need hugs and cuddles from their moms too. They need that all of their lives. I can remember visiting my great-grandma when she was in her 90s and my grandfather was in his 60s. She was still his mother and he was still her little boy. They talked to each other and teased each other in that special mother/son way. But he also held her hand and she kept patting his arm and they hugged each other many times. There was genuine affection there. My 8-year-old still likes to sit on my lap to read his lessons. Gabe makes sure that he sits next to me when we watch t.v. They all give me a kiss goodnight before bedtime, even my 17-year-old! A hug and a cuddle just reassures them. It's a touchstone of sorts that makes it okay to move forward. I think it also sets up the stage to have successful loving relationship with their future wives and children too!
One of my favorite saints celebrates a feast today- St. Maria Goretti. Universalis web site tells us:
Maria impressed everyone with her radiant purity. She was naturally pious, kind, and helpful. She was also outstandingly beautiful – and Alessandro Serenelli was an outstandingly passionate and undisciplined man. She resisted his attentions, which only made her the more desirable, and narrowly managed to escape a serious sexual assault, which he made her keep secret by means of threats of murder.
A month later Alessandro arranged things so that he would be alone in the house with Maria; and he had a dagger. She tried to resist, begging him to have care for his immortal soul, but he thrust a handkerchief into her mouth to prevent her from crying out, tied her up, and threatened her with the dagger. She could, the theologians say, have consented then, with no danger to her soul; but her love of purity was too great. Alessandro, enraged, stabbed her fourteen times.
She did not die, though her entrails were hanging out from one of her abdominal wounds. She was taken to hospital, seven miles of bad road in a horse-drawn ambulance, and was operated on for more than two hours. She lived for twenty hours more, became a Child of Mary, received the Last Sacrament, and specifically forgave her murderer. She died in the afternoon of 6 July 1902, at the age of eleven years, eight months, and twenty days.
Quite a few feminists over the years have expressed their disgust at the Catholic Church for honoring a girl who decided it was better to die than to just give into her rapist. They seemed to see her death as a defeat, as if because she failed to survive, she was weak and unworthy of admiration from other young women.
But I don't see it that way. I was more impressed that despite her youth and inexperience, Maria stood up for what she believed, even in the face of death, and if she was going to have to accept consequences for what she believed so be it. That she died on her own terms was a very real victory to my mind.
Alessandro Serenelli was the young man who brutally murdered St. Maria Goretti. After years of defiance and hard heartedness, he eventually repented, and was even present at Maria's canonization many years later. In fact he sat next to Maria's mother!
In old age Alessandro wrote:
"I'm nearly 80 years old. I'm about to depart.
"Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself.
"My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried.
"There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life.
"When I was 20 years-old, I committed a crime of passion. Now, that memory represents something horrible for me. Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good Angel, sent to me through Providence to guide and save me. I still have impressed upon my heart her words of rebuke and of pardon. She prayed for me, she interceded for her murderer. Thirty years of prison followed.
"If I had been of age, I would have spent all my life in prison. I accepted to be condemned because it was my own fault.
"Little Maria was really my light, my protectress; with her help, I behaved well during the 27 years of prison and tried to live honestly when I was again accepted among the members of society. The Brothers of St. Francis, Capuchins from Marche, welcomed me with angelic charity into their monastery as a brother, not as a servant. I've been living with their community for 24 years, and now I am serenely waiting to witness the vision of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear mother, Assunta.
"I hope this letter that I wrote can teach others the happy lesson of avoiding evil and of always following the right path, like little children. I feel that religion with its precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the real strength in life and the only safe way in every circumstance, even the most painful ones of life."
Signature, Alessandro Serenelli
I think Maria's feast day is an important one for young girls. Here is a saint who thought her purity was important enough to die for, and yet how many women just throw theirs away on less than worthwhile suitors? Something to think about.
I think Alessandro's story is an important one for young men and illustrates the old Catholic adage of avoiding the near occasion of sin. Alessandro certainly couldn't go down to the drug store and buy Playboy or watch internet porn, and yet what he was able to find was enough to pollute his mind and darken his heart. He is the perfect example of why young men need to guard their eyes and their ears, to protect their hearts and minds.
I feel kind of silly still doing these since the Simple Woman site is shut down for the summer. I'm not sure why I continue to link to it except we were asked to. At this point I guess I am really keeping it up because I enjoy doing these, and it makes a nice snap shot of my life every week, and because I miss it when I don't. Maybe my kids will enjoy reading these in the future.
Outside my window...
The sky is blue and bright.
I am thinking...
that I want to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours in earnest, the way my mother did, but I am a little bit of a loss of how to start other than clicking on the links on my blog. I did find her breviary going through her stuff so maybe I will start there and by studying this site. Mom did try to teach me this a few years ago but when my kids were younger it was harder for me to get organized around it. Maybe now that I only have one under five I'll be more successful.
I am thankful for... good health. I also thankful that I have a bit of money from mom to tied me over while Mr. Pete's business slows down. It's not that his work load slows down, it's that school systems just quit paying over the summertime and that makes it tough. For years now I have hated summer because it just meant greater hardship for our family. This year that pressure is off.
From the learning rooms...Math and reading only for the little kids, and pushing Sam to get back into his American Government and Literature. I also want to start doing some PSAT prep.
From the kitchen... I'm thinking ribs, and maybe some other summery dishes. Calvin's girlfriend suggested this site.
I am wearing...neutral stretch capris and a black T-shirt. Very comfortable.
I am creating... some normalcy in my family again. What will that mean without visiting grandma or worrying about grandma or hearing grandma? I do not know. The kids seem adjusted and fine, but I have to find a way to be a 50-year-old woman without her mom. And come to think of it, that is exactly what my mom had to do when she was 50 years old!
I am going... to be typing more this week. One of my main clients is taking a 3 week vacation in July so he is piling on the work now - unfortunate timing for me I suppose, but a good diversion. I also walked a total of ten miles last week. Pretty good for me. Hoping to do that this week and also add at least one day of workout tapes depending on the weather.
I am reading... through a lot of my mom's old prayer books trying to decide what to keep, what to give away, what to put on eBay and what just needs to be pitched.
I am hoping... for peace. Right now I continue to second guess myself about what I did wrong or right regarding my mother's care. Mr. Pete says I shouldn't worry about it because regardless of where we put mom, part of her recovery was up to her and she just didn't ever accept that.
I am hearing... The air conditioner which actually masks the usual buzzing in my ears.
Around the house... cleaning the classroom - again.
A few plans for the rest of the week: writing some funeral thank you cards.
A picture I am sharing:
The lovely Sarah and her 4th of July cake!
And as Washington economist Bruce Bartlett has written, Obama's $800 billion fiscal-stimulus package has yet to stimulate. Bartlett notes that 60 percent of the stimulus package goes to transfer payments and tax credits with no incentive effects. Meanwhile, the rest of the package, aimed at public works that might produce growth, is spending out at a snail's pace.
But Obama's temporary tax credits and social spending offer no growth effects. At the same time, the government's fiscal nymphomania has scared everyone into thinking the United States is going bankrupt. The president himself has said there's no money left. It's scary enough to keep your savings under the mattress
Stocks are the single-best barometer of our nation's future economic health, and the stock market began to rise in early March. But over the past month, with all these new big-government tax-and-regulatory threats, the stock rally has stalled. And the June jobs report caused an immediate 2 percent sell-off for equities.
I do the best I can to be optimistic about our nation's future.
But realistically, the current picture is not particularly good.
Excellent book and I plan to review it later this week. I'm also thinking of buying a few copies to have on hand. This is the kind of thing that would be very helpful to give someone who is going through a sad time.
It should be available on Amazon very soon, but I am getting an autographed copy next week when he comes in to start Sam on Algebra 2! 
and 
. They also liked the 
, 
and 
. Books with strong father figures in them and a lot of adventure always appeal to young boys. When Calvin was Jr. high aged I had him listen to 
on tape. I read it in high school, but I just sensed that he was ready for it and he was. In that sense he was much more mature than I was at that age.
My Amazon Store
My Books on HalfBay.com NEW Link! New ITEMS LISTED!
