Yesterday General Hospital finally gave us one of the best scenes ever! and who know that Maurice Bernard could really act! Love the music in the background for this too. The good stuff starts about two minutes in to the clip. Adorable baby girl in this scene too.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/31/2010
7 Quicktakes- the Saturday Edition
Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary.
1. A very interesting discussion (albeit one sided) of the Tim Tebow ad that has been bought and paid for and will appear during the Super Bowl. Apparently Focus on the Family has sponsored the add that will present a very pro-life message. Mr. Tebow's mother was advised to abort him for medical reasons, but chose to continue her pregnancy. Tim Tebow today refers to his mom as a brave woman.
I found one comment so interesting in the discussion. It was made by a mom who had suffered a stillbirth, and didn't think she could to through delivering another dead baby, and so she chose to abort. I followed the link to her blog and she is of course still grieving for her loss. Abortion didn't ease that sting. She still advocates for it though.
Having lived through a stillbirth myself I remember how heartbreaking it was, but I received much solace from having my baby's remains and being able to give him a burial and to have a place to visit him. I just can't wrap my mind around how abortion would be more comforting than that.
2. Sam has been picking up some extra cash by helping a neighbor out with her pooper scooper business. They go to homes and clean up the pet droppings in the back yard. Sometimes they are even paid to give an animal a walk and Sam said one of their clients pays them to come in and play with the dog for a while after they feed it while the owner is at school. Sure it's not a glamorous job, but it is a much appreciated service that people pay for and Sam has made enough in the past two weeks to pay for his own guitar lessons and cover the costs of the soccer class he is taking again today.
3. Speaking of soccer reffing - Sam took one whole day course last week and is now qualified to ref U14 soccer games. He is taking the bridge course today that will allow him to ref older games as he gets more confidence and experience. I'm hoping he can get a lot of games and make his own money this spring so that we can really start socking it away in his savings account!
The thing about these reffing classes it that they are few and far between! When I saw this course offered I jumped on it and instantly paid the $65 for the course. It was offered in a little town about 40 minutes from here. Then last week, after he had already taken the first class, the powers that be offered another one - about 15 minutes from home! sigh... I just can't catch a break I guess. But at least he will be done this weekend.
4. This week has shown me however that I really, really, really need Sam to get his driver's license. Mr. Pete has been gone since Wednesday and the responsibility for everything has fallen to me. Lessons, activities, church, trips to the grocery store - all of it. Mr. Pete wants to hold off for insurance reasons, but as he takes a couple of these trips a year, and as our oldest is no help whatsoever, I think I'm going to take this matter into my own hands and help Sam get his license, even if it means that I cover the insurance by myself for a while.
5. As an example, last night Sam and Gabe were playing for a youth retreat at church. I took them and dropped them off, knowing that I was going to have to pick up Sam later because he had to go to his class in the morning. But Gabe, in all the excitement of getting his drum set packed into the van, forgot his sleeping bag and I was going to have to take it to him. So I asked my soon-to-be 21-year-old oldest child if he would be so kind as to deliver the sleeping bag, and then bring Sam home. Without any hesitation at all he literally told me no, "I have a life mom." and he left to join his friends for bowling. . I ended up having to leave my three youngest kids at 10 to pick up Sam. So many things went spinning through my head by first and foremost was that next year, Sam was going to be able to drive to this thing by himself!
6. The second thing was - I am really ready for my oldest to leave. I thought I would be sad about it and maybe even cry a little bit - and I still might, but I think for the most part I'm over it. Somehow, some way, this kid got it into his head that life is about him. It's his world, and we're just a part of it. I mentioned to him a few weeks ago that it seems to me that he sees himself as the center of the universe and his family as the satellites in his orbit.
"That's right mom. Except for Sarah (his girlfriend), she is in the innermost circle of that orbit," he said.
"That just means she has to move faster, and work harder. Been there, done that." I replied.
Anyway he has a move out date for next month and his siblings are excited about it. That says something.
7. Heard Dawn Stefanowicz, the author of Out From Under: The Impact of Homosexual Parenting
, on Catholic radio today. It was a fascinating discussion about her life and research. She has links to blogs of adult children who tell it from their perspective.
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1. A very interesting discussion (albeit one sided) of the Tim Tebow ad that has been bought and paid for and will appear during the Super Bowl. Apparently Focus on the Family has sponsored the add that will present a very pro-life message. Mr. Tebow's mother was advised to abort him for medical reasons, but chose to continue her pregnancy. Tim Tebow today refers to his mom as a brave woman.
I found one comment so interesting in the discussion. It was made by a mom who had suffered a stillbirth, and didn't think she could to through delivering another dead baby, and so she chose to abort. I followed the link to her blog and she is of course still grieving for her loss. Abortion didn't ease that sting. She still advocates for it though.
Having lived through a stillbirth myself I remember how heartbreaking it was, but I received much solace from having my baby's remains and being able to give him a burial and to have a place to visit him. I just can't wrap my mind around how abortion would be more comforting than that.
2. Sam has been picking up some extra cash by helping a neighbor out with her pooper scooper business. They go to homes and clean up the pet droppings in the back yard. Sometimes they are even paid to give an animal a walk and Sam said one of their clients pays them to come in and play with the dog for a while after they feed it while the owner is at school. Sure it's not a glamorous job, but it is a much appreciated service that people pay for and Sam has made enough in the past two weeks to pay for his own guitar lessons and cover the costs of the soccer class he is taking again today.
3. Speaking of soccer reffing - Sam took one whole day course last week and is now qualified to ref U14 soccer games. He is taking the bridge course today that will allow him to ref older games as he gets more confidence and experience. I'm hoping he can get a lot of games and make his own money this spring so that we can really start socking it away in his savings account!
The thing about these reffing classes it that they are few and far between! When I saw this course offered I jumped on it and instantly paid the $65 for the course. It was offered in a little town about 40 minutes from here. Then last week, after he had already taken the first class, the powers that be offered another one - about 15 minutes from home! sigh... I just can't catch a break I guess. But at least he will be done this weekend.
4. This week has shown me however that I really, really, really need Sam to get his driver's license. Mr. Pete has been gone since Wednesday and the responsibility for everything has fallen to me. Lessons, activities, church, trips to the grocery store - all of it. Mr. Pete wants to hold off for insurance reasons, but as he takes a couple of these trips a year, and as our oldest is no help whatsoever, I think I'm going to take this matter into my own hands and help Sam get his license, even if it means that I cover the insurance by myself for a while.
5. As an example, last night Sam and Gabe were playing for a youth retreat at church. I took them and dropped them off, knowing that I was going to have to pick up Sam later because he had to go to his class in the morning. But Gabe, in all the excitement of getting his drum set packed into the van, forgot his sleeping bag and I was going to have to take it to him. So I asked my soon-to-be 21-year-old oldest child if he would be so kind as to deliver the sleeping bag, and then bring Sam home. Without any hesitation at all he literally told me no, "I have a life mom." and he left to join his friends for bowling. . I ended up having to leave my three youngest kids at 10 to pick up Sam. So many things went spinning through my head by first and foremost was that next year, Sam was going to be able to drive to this thing by himself!
6. The second thing was - I am really ready for my oldest to leave. I thought I would be sad about it and maybe even cry a little bit - and I still might, but I think for the most part I'm over it. Somehow, some way, this kid got it into his head that life is about him. It's his world, and we're just a part of it. I mentioned to him a few weeks ago that it seems to me that he sees himself as the center of the universe and his family as the satellites in his orbit.
"That's right mom. Except for Sarah (his girlfriend), she is in the innermost circle of that orbit," he said.
"That just means she has to move faster, and work harder. Been there, done that." I replied.
Anyway he has a move out date for next month and his siblings are excited about it. That says something.
7. Heard Dawn Stefanowicz, the author of Out From Under: The Impact of Homosexual Parenting
, on Catholic radio today. It was a fascinating discussion about her life and research. She has links to blogs of adult children who tell it from their perspective. Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
Friday, January 29, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/30/2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/29/2010
Interesting perspective - I think he has a case.
- This is a national disaster. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Census Bureau: 63 percent of all youth suicides; 71 percent of pregnant teenagers; 85 percent of all youth in prisons; 90 percent of all homeless and runaway children; and 71 percent of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.
In my work as a minister and counselor over the past 17 years, I've talked with countless couples and have noticed that women are angry and men don’t know how to deal with this anger. Everyone can see that "mom" has issues; the father knows it; the kids know it too. The mistake they make is reacting to this anger with their own anger and fear. The resulting inner pain causes men to overreact, and literally shift into a "fight or flight" response.
To avoid the inner and outer conflict, a man will leave his wife (or girlfriend) and his children.
Many women I counsel with and have interviewed on my radio and TV shows are quick to point out everything their man is doing wrong, but it's rare to find one who will honestly admit that she’s screwed up the kids or that she’s driving her mate crazy.
I'm not saying this is right, but this is the reality.
There's been a deliberate plan to wipe out masculinity in society. When you wipe out the man you wipe out God, because the man represents God on earth. Then there’s no truth – no light – and no hope for the family.God is the source of love – not the woman. When a man comes to understand this he develops the love and courage necessary to properly handle "the heat in the kitchen."
And women must be willing to admit their role in driving fathers out of homes. They must learn to love what is good in their man and to resist hating his weakness – only then will there be peace in our homes.
I too, was told to get an abortion. I was date raped. I was only 23. I had my dream job (flight attendant). I chose life. My son is now 20 and in a few weeks will become a father to a baby girl. My 1st grandchild.
“They” said that every day I would look into my baby’s eyes and see the man who raped me. Every day I DID look into the eyes of my baby boy and I saw…my little boy. Mine. My love. My joy.
I can honestly say that I never had trouble bonding with him. I can honestly say that I never once thought about that man while looking at my son. I received healing everytime I looked into his eyes.
I can not imagine my life without him. I went on to have 6 more children (3 of whom I hope to meet in heaven someday — those pregnancies ended in miscarriages) 3 who are with me today. There is no difference in the love I feel for my “planned” children and my “unplanned” child.
YouTube - Cato Institute Scholars Analyze the 2010 State of the Union Address
Analysis of the high points.
- But you needn’t take Brad’s word for it. The Court itself made clear that its opinion did not address the question of whether the government can regulate improper foreign influence over our electoral process. Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy expressly stated: “We need not reach the question whether the Government has a compelling interest in preventing foreign individuals or associations from influencing our Nation’s political process.” In support of that carve-out, the Court acknowledged the statute Brad discussed, 2 U.S.C. section 441e, which bans contributions and expenditures from foreign nationals. So Obama’s attack was a blatant misrepresentation of the holding of the case. And given that his top White House lawyer is a seasoned campaign-finance attorney, it is hard to believe that it was not an intentional misrepresentation.
President Wrong on Citizens United Case - Bradley A. Smith - The Corner on National Review Online
The article explains how Obama got it wrong during his SOTU address - which makes me wonder did he do it on purpose or was he just ignorant?
- Tonight the president engaged in demogoguery of the worst kind, when he claimed that last week's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, "open[ed] the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities."
The president's statement is false.
100 Inspirational Blog Posts for Homeschoolers | Associate Degree - Facts and Information
Fun Crafts for Kids: How to Make Salty Snow Prints | Blissfully Domestic
Well, here's a story you don't see every day.
Grant Desme, a 23-year-old minor league outfielder in Oakland's system, is retiring from baseball to follow a calling into the Catholic priesthood.
The story was first reported by Fox Sports' Jon Paul Morosi — perhaps appropriately with that first name of his — and this isn't a case of a struggling player going through an early-life crisis. Desme was ranked the A's eighth-best prospect by Baseball America after hitting .288 with 31 home runs and 89 RBIs in A ball in 2009 and he was just named MVP of the Arizona Fall League.
Desme might have even been a late-season callup to the big league club in 2010. Our Y! Sports 2010 fantasy guide has him ranked the 40th-best minor-league prospect for near-term fantasy purpose.
Conservatives praise parts of SOTU - Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com
The president the GOP decried for months as too far to the left on issues ranging from health care to war spending offered Republicans some things to be happy about Wednesday night.
He used parts of the hour-plus speech to tout offshore drilling, promote nuclear energy, and advocate tax cuts, including the elimination of the capital gains tax for small businesses.
“If he’s going to take a step in that direction, yeah, I’ll be right there with him,” said Chaffetz, who sat behind House Minority Leader John Boehner during the speech.Crapo, one of the more conservative members of the Senate, said he liked some of Obama’s plans on taxes. And he said Obama’s ideas about energy legislation, which has Democrats and Republicans at loggerheads in the Senate, “opened the door to some potential solutions.”
“There were things that if he stands behind them, we can do,” Crapo said.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas
From Medieval Saints on Yahoo.
Thomas, son of the count of Aquino, (b. 1225-d. 1274) was first
trained at the Benedictine abbey of Montecassino, and here, even in
childhood, his great mind was wrestling with theological questions,
"Master, tell me--what is God?" In order to better to train the boy's
mind, his father sent him at an early age to the University of Naples.
There he studied under Peter of Ireland and, undisturbed by the noise
and wickedness of the great university city, proceeded rapidly on his
quest for God.
Meeting the Dominicans, he was strongly attracted by their apostolic
life and petitioned to be received as one of them. While recognizing
the gifts of the young student, the friars refused him admittance to
the Order until he was eighteen. Acting deliberately, without a
backward glance at the power and wealth he was leaving, Thomas, at
eighteen, joyfully put on the habit of the new Order.
Like many gifted young men, Thomas was bitterly opposed by his family
when he attempted to become a religious. When both threats and
persuasion failed, he was kidnaped by his brothers and locked in a
tower for more than a year. His sisters were sent to influence him,
and he proceeded to convert them to his own way of thinking. A woman
was sent to tempt him; but he drove her from the room with a burning
brand from the fire; afterwards, angels came to gird him with the
cincture of perpetual chastity. When captivity failed to break his
determination, his brothers relaxed their guard, and Thomas, with the
help of his sisters, escaped from the tower and hurried back to his
convent.
Thomas was given the finest education available in his day. He studied
first at Cologne and later at Paris, under the Master, Albert the
Great. This outstanding Dominican teacher and saint became his
lifelong friend and loyal defender. They taught at Cologne and became
a mutual influence for good in one of the most beautiful friendships
in Dominican history.
For the rest of his life, Thomas was to teach and preach with scarcely
a day of rest. What makes the amount of writing he did remarkable, was
the great deal of traveling that he undertook. Death found him in a
familiar place, on the road, where he was bound for the Council of
Lyons in obedience to the pope's command. He died at the Cistercian
Abbey of Fossanova, in a borrowed bed, obscurity hardly fitting the
intellectual light of the Order, but perfectly suited to the humble
friar that Thomas had always been.
Overheard in a colloquy with the Master he served so well with heart
and mind and pen, Thomas was heard to ask as his reward from the Lord,
"Thyself, 0 Lord, none but thyself!"
St. Thomas Aquinas is a Doctor of the Church and is honored as the
patron of Catholic Schools. He is celebrated in the Church Calendar on
January 28th.
St. Thomas Aquinas was walking outside and two nuns rushed up to him with a great big bound tablet. They asked St. Thomas if he would be so kind, in his spare time, to write out all that was necessary for the nuns to do so that they could make it into heaven.
St. Thomas graciously agreed and took the volume from the sisters. They were very grateful and left with high hopes that perhaps he could finish this big task within a decade or so.
To their great surprise, St. Thomas showed up the next day, with the tablet, and told them that he had finished the work! The nuns were stunned, but they thanked the saint and took the volume, rushing back to the convent to see all of the words that he had written.
They opend the first page and this was all that was written:
How to Get to Heaven - Will It!!!
In other words (quite a few more "other words!") we all have the ability to make it to heaven, but we have to want to do so, and we have to will ourselves above and out of our own way to get there!
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/28/2010
Tea at Trianon: Do We Care About Boys?
The feminism fallout
The problem is not that women are doing well, it's that boys are doing badly. The two genders cannot be pitted against one another without all of us losing.
A new report by the Pew Research Center finds that more younger women are marrying down: 28 percent of wives aged 30- to 44-years-old have more education than their husbands, compared to 19 percent of husbands who are better-educated than their wives. One in four wives now substantially outearns her husband.
It turns out women are not necessarily happy about male failure. Betsy Stevenson and Justin Wolfers' 2007 study, "The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness," notes that "By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women's happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men."
Univ. of Florida Awaits Tim Tebow Ad - Campus Chatter
The University of Florida campus is slowly catching wind of Tim Tebow’s decision to star in a Super Bowl ad slated to air on CBS on Feb. 7, and some say the ad’s message is bound to spark controversy.
The ad spot was purchased by Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization that places emphasis on marriage and parenthood.
The Associated Press reported this week that the ad’s theme will be “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life,” with Pam Tebow sharing the story of her difficult 1987 pregnancy -- instead of getting an abortion she decided to give birth to Tebow, the now-famous quarterback who went on to become a Heisman Trophy winner, leading the Gators to two BCS wins.
Gary Schneeberger, Focus on the Family spokesman, told ABC News he couldn’t comment on the content of the ad. However, he said his organization has always viewed the Tebows as “strong, committed Christians” who have inspirational family stories to tell.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Works for Me Wednesday - Everything you wanted to know about The FIRM exercise program
I found this little gem online - The Firm Believer's Ultimate Compendium. It has tons of information on every FIRM tape or DVD made through 2008. But the real bonus for me towards the end was the list of workout rotations to get into shape or get back into shape. And with many of these tapes so inexpensively available now on eBay and Amazon, with these rotations exercising to tapes need never be boring again!
Works for me!
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The State of the Union Address Drinking Game 2010
Here it is - in preparation for the State of the Union Address - The State of the Union Address Drinking Game 2010 -possibly the only way to get through the entire address without flipping channels!
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Tuesday, January 26, 2010
My Dearest Daughter
In 1958 my mother got married and moved across the country. These are the letters written to her, mainly by her mother, between 1958 and 1960. Others in the series are in my del.icio.us file.
My Grandma's letter to Mom stopped during December and January 1958. I'm not sure if she didn't write or if these were just lost. Grandma did make a trip to visit my mom in Christmas of that year, so there wouldn't be any letters while they were together. I am going to wait until next month to start posting those again.
Mr. Pete was getting ready to teach his PSR class by reading my mom's old family bible, when this fell out of it:
I thought it was a nice tie in to the letters my grandma had written and a little touch from my mom that she was on her way back for that visit they were all looking forward to so much! Apparently my grandmother saved it in this bible and then my mom kept it for all of these years.
Since mom's death I have been overcome with a sense of history, or rather the loss of my own family's history. I heard on the radio a few days ago how precious or family history is and how quickly it can disappear. The commentator said most people can name their grandparents, and even their great-grandparents, but few can go back farther than that! It' so true. And even if we can know their names and occupations, what can we really know of them and their thoughts and feelings?
My sister gave my mom a copy of The Story of a Lifetime: A Keepsake of Personal Memoirs
for Christmas a few years back, but mom only filled out one page of it. Oh the opportunity that we missed there!
But I hope not to lose all of the family lore if I can possibly prevent it. I have a wonderful Aunt Dorothy (Rosie's middle name is for her!) who is in her late 80s but is very spry and in better shape than a lot of ladies 20 to 30 years younger! So I bought her a copy of To Our Children's Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come
. I'm going to send it to her this week and hopefully she'll have lots to say and to preserve for us. I think she will. Her letters are always so newsy and she still has wonderful handwriting.
But to that end I am more determined now than ever to try to preserve that respect for the story of our family in the minds of my own children. It does no one any good to just have memories shared and written down or recorded if no one gives a damn about them. But I think my kids will care because I have been blessed to have these family photos and I can talk to them about who these people were and what they did and how I remember them from my childhood. And ore importantly, I take them to family reunions and events so that family history becomes part of THEIR memory and hopefully then something that they will think of fondly and want to hang on to.
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My Grandma's letter to Mom stopped during December and January 1958. I'm not sure if she didn't write or if these were just lost. Grandma did make a trip to visit my mom in Christmas of that year, so there wouldn't be any letters while they were together. I am going to wait until next month to start posting those again.
Mr. Pete was getting ready to teach his PSR class by reading my mom's old family bible, when this fell out of it:
I thought it was a nice tie in to the letters my grandma had written and a little touch from my mom that she was on her way back for that visit they were all looking forward to so much! Apparently my grandmother saved it in this bible and then my mom kept it for all of these years.
Since mom's death I have been overcome with a sense of history, or rather the loss of my own family's history. I heard on the radio a few days ago how precious or family history is and how quickly it can disappear. The commentator said most people can name their grandparents, and even their great-grandparents, but few can go back farther than that! It' so true. And even if we can know their names and occupations, what can we really know of them and their thoughts and feelings?
My sister gave my mom a copy of The Story of a Lifetime: A Keepsake of Personal Memoirs
for Christmas a few years back, but mom only filled out one page of it. Oh the opportunity that we missed there!But I hope not to lose all of the family lore if I can possibly prevent it. I have a wonderful Aunt Dorothy (Rosie's middle name is for her!) who is in her late 80s but is very spry and in better shape than a lot of ladies 20 to 30 years younger! So I bought her a copy of To Our Children's Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come
. I'm going to send it to her this week and hopefully she'll have lots to say and to preserve for us. I think she will. Her letters are always so newsy and she still has wonderful handwriting. But to that end I am more determined now than ever to try to preserve that respect for the story of our family in the minds of my own children. It does no one any good to just have memories shared and written down or recorded if no one gives a damn about them. But I think my kids will care because I have been blessed to have these family photos and I can talk to them about who these people were and what they did and how I remember them from my childhood. And ore importantly, I take them to family reunions and events so that family history becomes part of THEIR memory and hopefully then something that they will think of fondly and want to hang on to.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/26/2010
Apparently this reporter got all her information from the social networks and blogging too!
- “The organizers are getting older, and it’s more difficult for them to walk a long distance,” says Stanley Radzilowski, an officer in the planning unit for the Washington, D.C., police department. A majority of the participants are in their 60s and were the original pioneers either for or against the case, he says.
- So this raises the question: where are the young, vibrant women supporting their pro-life or pro-choice positions? Likely, they’re at home. “Young women are still concerned about these issues, but they’re not trained to go out and protest,” says Kristy Maddux, assistant professor at the University of Maryland, who specializes in historical feminism.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Simple Woman
Outside my window...
Wet and Muddy!
I am thinking...
I wish I hadn't procrastinated in getting a mass said for Mom on her birthday. I have been looking at the church bulletin and it never seemed as if every day was taken for mass, but I went in today to sign up for mom's birthday and the entire week was taken!! I got one as close as I could though.
I am thankful for...
a little 4 year old girl that makes watching movies again like Fantasia
truly an event! I am so glad that we had this little girl, even in our late 40s. So happy that we didn't let the loss of her little brother keep us from trying again. Raising her, at this time in my life is one of the best things I have ever done. From the learning rooms...
We continue with The Screwtape Letters
and A Philadelphia Catholic in King James's Court
with Gabe in preparation for confirmation. We move on to Iowa and Nebraska this week and review the circulatory system! Gabe completes Chapter 5 in General Science.i sat down with Sam and organized all of his work. I added the assignment of reading through the Bravewriter Help for High School Course and we are going to pick up American History from 1877.From the kitchen...
Turkey soup or Turkey Noodle Casserole - can't decide.
I am wearing...
Black pants and red top with gray jacket.
I am creating...
a better portfolio for Sam.
I am going...
to finish emptying the last few boxes in my car from mom. After that I have until the end of February to finish emptying the storage area. I made friend with the manager at the storage place though, and he told me if I need a little more time to just let him know. We bonded over eBay war stories of bad buyers and deceitful sellers! I think he'd give me half a month free if I asked him, but I don't think I'll need it. I think I can be out of there the end of the month.
I am reading...
The Divine Office for Dodos: A Step-By-Step Guide to Praying the Liturgy of the Hours
Farewell, Jackie: A Portrait of Her Final Days
. I actually finished this book. Very sad but inspiring at the same. time. I still see many qualities in Jacqueline Kennedy that I would like to emulate, but as I was reading through it she actually reminds me a lot of my sister! which was surprising.I am hoping...
to get a bunch of The Firm Tapes that I managed to get off of eBay this week! I'm working out a little schedule for myself!
I am hearing...
The Printer.
Around the house...
Quiet - it's after lunch.
A few plans for the rest of the week:
finish cleaning my office, hit my goal for my typing and getting a lot of laundry done!
A picture I am sharing:
Rosie Playing with her Doll House -
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Sunday, January 24, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/25/2010
- As the second decade of the 21st century begins, it is clear that the first one saw big changes in the way Americans think about health and vaccination. A good example is the fact that a majority of Americans “just said no” to getting an H1N1 influenza shot last year. 1 2 The truth is, most of us just didn’t buy the hype about swine flu. Perhaps it is because we are tired of constantly living in fear.
Next month is the 25th anniversary of the publishing of the book DPT: A Shot in the Dark, which I co-authored with medical historian Harris Coulter. It was first published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and was used by the Institute of Medicine as a reference for the 1991 report on Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines. It was the first major book documenting vaccine risks and flaws in vaccine science, regulation, policymaking, and law.- Twenty-five years later, parents of vaccine injured children are still calling for meaningful reform of public health policies and vaccine laws to protect individual and public health. 25 It is time to leave the politics of fear of the last decade behind, and change the way the conversation about vaccine science, policy, ethics and law is conducted so that the real issues about health and vaccination can be addressed responsibly. The people expect and deserve no less from those in positions of authority in government, industry and medicine, who operate the public health system.
Pope's message to Priests - we must blog!
- Pope Benedict XVI has a message for priests of the Catholic Church: they must proclaim the gospel by not only having a website, but by blogging and utilizing new web communication tools.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Sunday Snippets
Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly opportunity to share our best posts with the wider Catholic blogging community. To participate, create a post highlighting posts that would be of interest to Catholics and link to the host blog at This That and the Other Blog. Go to the host blog and leave a comment giving a link to your post.
One of the things I thought about this week in conjunction with Sam's Birthday was the importance of giving control of the birth process back to women. With the C-section rate soaring and celebrities opting for Cesareans as if they were going in for a pedicure, I think it is important for young women to feel confident in their ability to grow and birth their own babies. Medical intervention should only be an emergency supplement to their birth choices, not the main course. How Health Care legislation affects this remains to be seen. And why is this a Catholic issue? Because how a woman is treated in birth can help determine how she feels about remaining open to new life. If women aren't treated with dignity and respect during one of the most intimate moments of their life, it can just close their hearts to the idea of having more children. It happened to me. Sam's birth changed all of that for me.
We had a couple of good feast days last week so I blogged about St. Agnes and St. Sebastian
Lots of action this week over at Visits to Candyland.
Kelly blogged about a passage from the book The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity
about the tradition of invoking the name of someone's mother in prayer. That certainly got a discussion going with the anti-Mary crowd.
The discussion also moved to my reposting of an examination of the Hail Mary
Elswhere, Hilltop Farm had a review of The Gospel Truth: A Lectionary-Based Catechism for Adults - Cross-Referenced to the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults
that looks pretty interesting, so I bought a copy.
Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
One of the things I thought about this week in conjunction with Sam's Birthday was the importance of giving control of the birth process back to women. With the C-section rate soaring and celebrities opting for Cesareans as if they were going in for a pedicure, I think it is important for young women to feel confident in their ability to grow and birth their own babies. Medical intervention should only be an emergency supplement to their birth choices, not the main course. How Health Care legislation affects this remains to be seen. And why is this a Catholic issue? Because how a woman is treated in birth can help determine how she feels about remaining open to new life. If women aren't treated with dignity and respect during one of the most intimate moments of their life, it can just close their hearts to the idea of having more children. It happened to me. Sam's birth changed all of that for me.
We had a couple of good feast days last week so I blogged about St. Agnes and St. Sebastian
Lots of action this week over at Visits to Candyland.
Kelly blogged about a passage from the book The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity
about the tradition of invoking the name of someone's mother in prayer. That certainly got a discussion going with the anti-Mary crowd.The discussion also moved to my reposting of an examination of the Hail Mary
Elswhere, Hilltop Farm had a review of The Gospel Truth: A Lectionary-Based Catechism for Adults - Cross-Referenced to the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults
that looks pretty interesting, so I bought a copy. Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/24/2010
FT.com / US / Politics & Foreign policy - White House nightmare persists
At the end of Barack Obama’s worst week since taking power a year ago, the US president’s fortunes look set only to deteriorate over the coming days. Following the shock defeat of the Democratic candidate in Massachusetts on Tuesday, a move that deprived the president of his 60-seat super-majority in the Senate and left his legislative agenda in tatters, Mr Obama has just four days to reboot the system.
The US president had originally delayed next week’s State of the Union address to Congress in the hope he would get his signature healthcare reform bill enacted in time. That prospect, already waning, was killed dead by the voters in Massachusetts. A growing number of Democrats believe the nine-month effort could collapse altogether.
Interesting News for Roe versus Wade Day
Things that make you go hmmm!
- To be close to their 19th child, Josie Brooklyn, born three months premature, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have leased a house in Little Rock, Arkansas. The home is the historic Cornish House, built in 1919 by Ed and Hilda Cornish. Born as Brunhilde Kahlert, Mrs. Cornish started the state's birth control movement after the death of her husband. Her efforts paved the way for the establishment of Arkansas' Planned Parenthood Association. On the contrary, the Duggars believe that children are a blessing from God and desire to receive all the gifts He is willing to give them. They are thankful to have found a house to accommodate their large family, no matter what its history is.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
From my Quotiki File
Quotes - Quotiki
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Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen.Conan O'Brien
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7 Quicktakes- the Saturday Edition
Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary.
1. Last night we took the birthday boy out for a very grown up dinner- just Sam, Mr. Pete and me. We went to a local Italian restaurant known for their low prices and big servings. They did not disappoint and Mr. Pete and Sam had to use doggy bags to bring the rest of their dinners home. We also broke down and got Sam a cell phone - with limitations. It's pay as you go, no camera, no texting, but it does have an FM radio in it. The big challenge will be to keep his friends from calling him all the time on it now that he has a phone. There is a limit to how many minutes a month we will pay for. And as archaic as that all sounds to some kids, Sam was thrilled with it.
2. Today Sam is at a soccer reffing course. If he passes the test, he will be able to ref soccer games for the local soccer league and not just CYO. This is huge as far as his ability to make money this spring. I'm also hoping that he and his brother will get it together so that they can perform at our local business square which has a lot of eateries and businesses. I've noticed quite a few street musicians perform there - no reason why my guys can't do that too. I definitely think they're good enough.
3. I finally got Gabe to sing my favorite Journey song AND play the drums at the same time. OK, it was only the refrain, but it was a start! And my (not so)little 14-year-old has a pretty good tenor voice - perfect for those kinds of rock ballads. Now I catch him singing with his MP3 player on while he drums all the time and I smile at him and he knows I'm really saying, "told ya you could do it!"
4. If there is anything I want to drum into my kids' heads, particularly my girls, it is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. I think this is particularly important for girls because young women, even athletic ones, are so indoctrinated with the idea that once they become pregnant they don't have a clue about how to eat, or move or birth their own babies. For example - when I had Calvin I was not allowed to have anything to eat once I got into the hospital! I am convinced that one of the reasons I couldn't push him out is because the hospital made me go without food for over a day and I just didn't have the energy. With all the other natural births I ate and drank as I felt I needed to and I felt stronger at the end. So voila! a study comes out this week saying that it's probably okay to eat and drink during labor! I'm sure if our great grandmothers were here they'd say, "well duh!"
Why stuff like this doesn't make more young woman start questioning this stuff is beyond me.
5. I was kind of happy with how natural birth was portrayed on t.v. show Private Practice this week. They had a first time mom who was trying to give birth on her own, without any pain medication. Of course the OB main character was subtly pushing for a Cesarean or something to shut her up and stop the screaming, and the male midwife character was anything but comforting... oh and the lady didn't have a doula or a husband/partner either which sort of made it a little more out of the ordinary. Anyway they didn't cut her open and she didn't get an epidural and she delivered a healthy baby.
6. I got up early this morning and worked out to two tapes. The first wasCrunch - Cardio Sculpt: The Body Sculpting Fat Burning Blast!
It says that it is:
. That one still rocks.
7. One of my favorite Obama Kool Aid drinking bloggers writes: I have to laugh at the people who simply do not get that if you voted for Obama, you didn't, overnight become a flaming liberal Democrat.
Shrug... I get it. Even SLO voted for Obama -she simply got swept up in the enthusiasm of voting for an attractive, articulate, young candidate with a lovely wife and family, who also happened to be the first African American to seriously be in contention for the office AND who wasn't George W. Bush. I think many people felt that way. But the approval rating that keeps sinking like a rock illustrates that many of those Obama voters didn't realize that they were voting for a flaming liberal Democrat. And now that they finally see it - things will change.
Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
1. Last night we took the birthday boy out for a very grown up dinner- just Sam, Mr. Pete and me. We went to a local Italian restaurant known for their low prices and big servings. They did not disappoint and Mr. Pete and Sam had to use doggy bags to bring the rest of their dinners home. We also broke down and got Sam a cell phone - with limitations. It's pay as you go, no camera, no texting, but it does have an FM radio in it. The big challenge will be to keep his friends from calling him all the time on it now that he has a phone. There is a limit to how many minutes a month we will pay for. And as archaic as that all sounds to some kids, Sam was thrilled with it.
2. Today Sam is at a soccer reffing course. If he passes the test, he will be able to ref soccer games for the local soccer league and not just CYO. This is huge as far as his ability to make money this spring. I'm also hoping that he and his brother will get it together so that they can perform at our local business square which has a lot of eateries and businesses. I've noticed quite a few street musicians perform there - no reason why my guys can't do that too. I definitely think they're good enough.
3. I finally got Gabe to sing my favorite Journey song AND play the drums at the same time. OK, it was only the refrain, but it was a start! And my (not so)little 14-year-old has a pretty good tenor voice - perfect for those kinds of rock ballads. Now I catch him singing with his MP3 player on while he drums all the time and I smile at him and he knows I'm really saying, "told ya you could do it!"
4. If there is anything I want to drum into my kids' heads, particularly my girls, it is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. I think this is particularly important for girls because young women, even athletic ones, are so indoctrinated with the idea that once they become pregnant they don't have a clue about how to eat, or move or birth their own babies. For example - when I had Calvin I was not allowed to have anything to eat once I got into the hospital! I am convinced that one of the reasons I couldn't push him out is because the hospital made me go without food for over a day and I just didn't have the energy. With all the other natural births I ate and drank as I felt I needed to and I felt stronger at the end. So voila! a study comes out this week saying that it's probably okay to eat and drink during labor! I'm sure if our great grandmothers were here they'd say, "well duh!"
Why stuff like this doesn't make more young woman start questioning this stuff is beyond me.
5. I was kind of happy with how natural birth was portrayed on t.v. show Private Practice this week. They had a first time mom who was trying to give birth on her own, without any pain medication. Of course the OB main character was subtly pushing for a Cesarean or something to shut her up and stop the screaming, and the male midwife character was anything but comforting... oh and the lady didn't have a doula or a husband/partner either which sort of made it a little more out of the ordinary. Anyway they didn't cut her open and she didn't get an epidural and she delivered a healthy baby.
6. I got up early this morning and worked out to two tapes. The first wasCrunch - Cardio Sculpt: The Body Sculpting Fat Burning Blast!
It says that it is: The CRUNCH fitness program welcomes people from all walks of life regardless of shape, size or ability. We created a workout environment that is not competitive or judgmental.It wasn't challenging and didn't get my heart rate up either but it would be a great one for my daughter or anyone getting started with home video exercise. . But then it is a library movie and now that I know what it's like I don't have to buy it. The other one was The Firm: Calorie Killer
. That one still rocks.7. One of my favorite Obama Kool Aid drinking bloggers writes: I have to laugh at the people who simply do not get that if you voted for Obama, you didn't, overnight become a flaming liberal Democrat.
Shrug... I get it. Even SLO voted for Obama -she simply got swept up in the enthusiasm of voting for an attractive, articulate, young candidate with a lovely wife and family, who also happened to be the first African American to seriously be in contention for the office AND who wasn't George W. Bush. I think many people felt that way. But the approval rating that keeps sinking like a rock illustrates that many of those Obama voters didn't realize that they were voting for a flaming liberal Democrat. And now that they finally see it - things will change.
Please browse my eBay items!
Visit my new Amazon Store!
Friday, January 22, 2010
My Domestic Church Daily Clips 01/23/2010
A Difficult Breech Birth - by Marion Toepke McLean
A difficult breech but delivered without a Cesarean with good results.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Going into the Quotiki file
The safest road to Hell is the gradual one -- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.C.S Lewis as Uncle Screwtape in the The Screwtape Letters: Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil
Quotiki
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Mort Zuckerman - lambastes the Obama Administration.
I found myself nodding with just about everything he said!
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