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Shopping in my daughter's closet

Ten more pounds down and ten more to go. I am now able to "shop" in my daughter's closet for clothing.

The blouse and the jeans I am wearing in this picture are both courtesy of Mary-Kate.

What is this woman thinking of?

An article I just read from Bill O'Reilly's web page. This governor certainly likes to make her constituancy feel that she is on top of the latest controversies.

Jesus vs. the Atheists
By Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.comThursday, December 4, 2008
Just in time for the Christmas season, the Governor of Washington State, Christine Gregoire, has insulted Christians all over the world. Inside the state capitol building in Olympia, there is a traditional holiday display featuring a tree and the Nativity scene-perfectly appropriate since the Christmas federal and state holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.But this year, Governor Gregoire decided to add another item to the display. Standing alongside the baby Jesus is a giant placard designed by atheists that reads, "There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."You read that correctly. The governor of Washington State has permitted an attack on religion to be displayed in her office building as part of a Christmas presentation.Now, even the producers of 'The Twilight Zone' would have rejected this script as being too far-fetched. Governor Gregoire's behavior is offensive, insulting to all people of faith, and totally incomprehensible.Unless you know what's going on in Washington State.Seattle now rivals San Francisco for secular-progressive nuttiness. The city fathers are allowing public ness in city parks, bike riding, and in Fremont, a Seattle suburb, they actually put up a statue honoring Lenin, the father of communism.Some on the Seattle school board actually supported denigrating Thanksgiving by teaching children about the atrocities against Native Americans by the Pilgrims.In addition, Washington State voters have passed assisted , and the state gives out free birth control pills, including the "morning after" pill.On the quality-of-life front, the streets of Seattle are full of homeless people, but they don't have to be out in the rain. The city will pay to house alcoholics and addicts if they want it. They can actually get free furnished apartments. Taxpayers, of course, pick up the tab. Outside of the Seattle area, Washington State is fairly conservative. But the big city population base rules, and far-left zealots are running wild. However, they may have overstepped on this Christmas deal.I believe that most Americans, even those living in far-left enclaves, respect uplifting traditions like Christmas where peace and love are the theme of the great day. Calling religion "enslaving" doesn't exactly fit into the peace and love scenario, does it? Can't we all just get along for a few weeks in December?The answer to that question is "no." Not in Washington State, where the governor believes a few nuts have a legal right to run down the Christmas tradition in the lobby of the capitol building. At this point, there is little left to say except this: Where are the wise men when you need them?

Part and parcel of the mother gig

That's a line I say to people who ask me why do I do this or why do I do that. It beats having to go into long explanations about love and sacrifice to someone that I know isn't going to get it or at a time when I know that I will go into sarcastic mode if I go into long explanations. " So, there I was in my kitchen minding my own business, cooking a bunch of fantastic tasting food to give away to anyone who needed it when the phone rang." That's how I would start out the story of my Tuesday if I was inclined to write a story about it.
I was indeed in my kitchen minding my own business when the phone did ring. It was my 20 year old son Jason calling from college. If it wasn't for caller ID and the fact that he called me "mom" I would never have known that it was my son on the line. This is significant because this is the son who tells me that "he has been taking care of himself for ______ months" (fill in the blank). Basically he can do it himself. It's what I call the "grown man manifesto". The more they protest the harder they fall, this is a case in point.
Anyway, I digress. With a barely there voice he lists his symptoms and then comes the coup de gras, the magic line, the words that lets every mother know that her son is still in need of her at least some of the time, "what do I do".
Long story short, after a bunch of phone calls, Doug and I drove two hours to school to get him and took him to the hospital emergency room. Five hours later we find out that he is severly dehydrated, has a sinus infection, and strep along with a migraine headache probably caused by the sinus infection.
So home comes my "grown up" son to be taken care of by mom.
So, when asked why I drove four hours to pick up my son and brought him home in the middle of a very busy day for me, why did I spend five hours in the ER with him, and why am I taking care of him now? My answer: It's all part and parcel of the mother gig. I love the dude and of course I would do that for him. Wouldn't you?

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Be direct and clear


• * Listen to me carefully


• * Don't judge me for my anxiety


• * Work things through with me


• * Reassure me that everything is OK between us


• * Laugh and make jokes with me


• * Gently push me toward new experiences


• * Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

• * being committed and faithful to family and friends


• * being responsible and hardworking


• * being compassionate toward others


• * having intellect and wit


• * being a nonconformist


• * confronting danger bravely


• * being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

• * the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind


• * procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself


• * fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of


• * exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger


• * wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right


• * being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

• * are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn


• * are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger


• * form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent


• * look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel


• * are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

• * are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty


• * are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence


• * worry more than most that their children will get hurt


• * sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

You Are Lemon Meringue Pie

You're the perfect combo of sassy and sweet. You always know how to brighten someone's mood, but you're not overly sappy. In fact, you can be a bit too honest at times. And most people find that refreshing. While you're always true to yourself, you keep things light. That's how people are able to stomach your slightly bitter outlook. Those who like you have well refined tastes. You're complicated - and let's face it - a true enigma. You enjoy defying expectations, and there are many layers to your personality. There's not one easy way to define you.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Excitement Ian Style

Monday we had our second big snowfall of the season. As a mother you are generally concerned when you have teenagers driving especially when the weather is like this. When your children get into their twenties, though, and have survived two tours of duty in Iraq, you have finally learned to ease up a little in the concerned area.

When the phone rings at 10:00 at night and you hear your husband say, through your sleep fogged mind, "Your truck is totalled, Ian!" You start to rethink that relaxation of the concerned thing.

On his way home from fire school, on slippery, snow covered back roads, Ian hit a heifer that was standing in the middle of the road. The heifer happens to belong to some friends of ours which made it a little easier when he had to knock on the farmers door.

And Ian is the son of a farmer which makes it nice for the farmer who owns the heifer. But in the meantime Ian is short a set of wheels while this one goes throught he insurance red-tape and he does some work on his big red truck to get that on the road.

Thanks be to God he is fine but the heifer has a broken leg and is not expected to make it.

Snow

The snow is trying to come back to Central New York. The question keeps coming up about whether I like snow. I know that my family keeps asking me to get a rise out of me since my feelings about snow are well known to all who live with me.

But actually I must confess here that my feelings about snow are a little more complicated than those that I have expressed in the past. True I do get a little crabby when there are several inches on the ground and more coming down and I have to go somewhere. What sane thinking person wouldn't, I ask you?



Conversely, when I am home and have no place to go. When there is a nice blaze in the wood stove and I am cozy and warm, what could be more lovely than the sight of big lacey flakes coming down outside. It is also a pleasure indeed to wake up in the morning to a blanket of white covering the traditional mud that generally covers our yard. Why at these times even I can wax poetic about snow.

I have been known to declare a particularly lovely snowy day a day off from school so that we might go out and do some sledding and perhaps build some snow people. I have done my fair share of ice skating and have even ventured onto the slopes for skiing and snow boarding. Now that the children are older and they are in charge of their own mittens and snowsuits going out into a winter wonderland is a stress free adventure.

It is only when we have winters where the snow just doesn't know when to stop. When the roads become impassable and the other drivers on the roads seem to forget how to drive in the white stuff, that the part of the love relationship comes into play.

I guess as long as I can find my way to the outhouse through the deep snow and I can stay warm, snow is alright with me.

Bring it on!

Veterans Day

I have been reading not a few posts about Veterans day and what it means to people, encouragement about flying the flag proudly today, and about the cost of freedom. There have even been a few with a history lesson thrown in telling about the fact that Veterans day originally started out as Armistice Day and, I think in Canada, it is called Remembrance Day. But no matter what it is called or how it is "celebrated" I feel the need to throw my two cents in here.
Veterans day is a day that was originally set aside to honor our fallen who had sacrificed their lives to keep this nation free from tyranny. Very few of our young people are aware of the reason for Veterans day anymore, they are just grateful for a day off from school. The whole concept of patriotism is no longer being taught to our youth. There is a great deal of talk today about thanking the Vets for the price that they have paid for our freedom. But if you ask young kids what freedom means you will get many answers that boil down to one concept; the ability to do whatever you want to without anyone stopping you. That is most definitely not freedom and is not what our soldiers fought to preserve.
Freedom, true freedom comes at a high price, and I am not referring to the giving of your life. I am referring to the price that each of pays day in and day out who are striving for the freedom that God promises. The freedom that comes from doing His will. That is the freedom that our military men fought and died to preserve. The freedom to persue God's will. The freedom to, each and everyday, examine our decisions in the light of God's revelation, and decide based on what He wishes for us to do. The freedom to act according to His plan for our lives. The freedom to work and play according to His design for our lives. The freedom to form our consciences based on His teachings and then to follow our consciences. This is what our veterans fought and fight for.
So, when we are encouraged to fly the flag proudly that is what we are seeing. When we see a veteran who is working at WalMart greeting people wearing his war medals or sitting in MacDonalds having a coffee in an old style uniform, we shouldn't just pass him by or give him a smile and then walk away. But instead stop and extend a warm handshake with a heartfelt thank you. Perhaps an inquiry and listen with interest when he explains his part in the history of this country, after all what does it cost you but a few minutes of your precious time compared to the risk of his whole life.
That is what Veterans day means to me. That is what freedom is. That is what I see when I see a flag flying. That is why I will hold up your line at the store to chat with that old man in a uniform. This mom of three veterans.

A little selective theology going on here......

Before anyone reads this let me warn you that I am not as good a writer as my son Ryan. So, without further eloquence.....................
Yesterday one of my second graders confronted me as only an outraged seven year-old can. He came up to me with outrage written all over his face, arms folded across his chest, feet planted firmly and said "You told me that God answers our prayers, Mrs. K." I looked at him quite shocked and answered "Yes, I did indeed tell you that." Before the answer was completely out of my mouth he rebutted with the following, "I prayed for 100% on my math test and God didn't give it to me. You were wrong!" There goes the text of my lesson for the day. I, of course, had taught them that God does indeed answer prayer but I had also predicated that with the fact that He answers with what He knows to be best for us. I also used the illustration that if you pray for a 100% on a test and then don't study for the test and count only on God and your prayers to get that good grade then God may not answer your prayer the way that you want because He is counting on you to do some work as well. (I know this boy well and I am willing to bet the rent that is just what he did)
This whole situation got me to thinking about the election. Many, many people have been praying fervently about the outcome of the election. This is a good thing, I am not criticizing or making comment about that. But already I have heard sour talk about the outcome that we have realized and how "we prayed so hard" and "we didn't get what we asked for" or words to that affect. My thought is just this. What work has been done to go along with the prayers? And I am not talking about in the short term. In the long term, what are the good people of this country doing to back up the prayers that have been said for the outcome of this election? And why only the prayers for this particular election? What about prayers day in and day out? God is counting on us to do our best day in and day out is what I am saying.
I have an exercise that I do with the kids in my class that is proving to be a good teaching tool. Each week I secretly choose someone from the class to be my "chosen" person. Someone who has to be good even though the rest of the class may is being not so good all around them. Just like after the fall when God's chosen people were supposed to be good while awaiting the Savior while everyone else was being bad all around them. Sometimes they fell too and gave in to temptation and became bad themselves and God had to punish them. Anyway, the next week the "chosen" person gets a reward if they succeed. The people of our nation have to be the same way. We have to be good as an example to the rest of the world. It says in the bible that to those who have been given much much will be expected of them. Much has been given to this country and, hard as it is to take, we are looked up to for that reason. To pray only when the chips are down is not good enough. To rally when we come under attack, like after 9/11, is not good enough. We have to be united as a nation at all times.
So what do we do? We have a new president. You may not like him, so what. You may not agree with his policies, who cares. He is our leader. You can rally behind him without compromising your beliefs and principals. You can show unity without giving up who and what you stand for. There are means and methods in place in our Constitution for showing when and where you disagree. Do I sound idealistic? Maybe it's about time this country got a little idealistic and began to practice the principals upon which it was founded.
Keep praying!!!! Start being the type of person and citizen that God wishes of us and perhaps He will again reward this country as He has so richly done in the past.
10:07 AM
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