Sunday, November 30, 2008

It is not fair.

God, why are you allowing unbelieving Jews to die for you?? Satan, the enemy hates you, and Your Son, and I can see going after Christians that believe in Your Son, but the Jews are your special people. Please, they need Your protection. They need to hear the gospel, and they need to know that Your Son IS the Messiah.

Please guard your special people with Christians. Those who have believed on Your Son are going to heaven. Use us to stand between Jews and the irrational, cancer that is Islam.

To help wrap my mind around what happened in Bombay, India…an analogy: we attend a small church. Maybe 200 people. If terrorist criminals flew into DFW Airport, and got in cars, taxis and limos and wound their way down 360 and down Fielder and onto Randol Mill and found our church, and murdered us all, taking out a few at the police station, and hotel that also happened to be card-carrying members of Arlington Community Church, wouldn’t the press think it odd?? Wouldn’t they wonder what we were teaching on Sunday morning?? Wouldn’t it be a tragedy for our retired Pastor Charles to come back and identify our bodies, and say, yes, that is Pastor Mark, and he was a member. We would be in heaven. But what of the poor visitor that chose the same day to visit and was mowed down just because he was mistaken for one of us?? And what of the ones at the hotel---when asked are you a member of Arlington Community Church, would they say, “yes”??

That is what happened in Mumbai/Bombay, India last week. Jews were targeted. Jews were singled out and murdered. A small Jewish center that was a threat to no one was invaded, and nine people were murdered there.

Will we meet these dear, sweet people in heaven?? They were murdered because they were Jews. And Jews are targeted because they are God’s special people. It is our job as Christians to speak up, stand up, and cry out at this injustice. The UN will do nothing. The world courts are a joke. Israel must avenge this. Hunt down the terrorists and kill them.

And we, as Christians, must pray. Pray that God protect His Special People, the Jews. Pray that God reveal that His Son IS the Messiah. Pray that God will destroy anyone who threatens Israel. Pray that God blesses those who bless and curse those who curse Israel, just as He promised Abraham.

It is not fair. It should have been me.

Saturday and now Sunday

On Saturday, we fed our boy breakfast and lunch, as he awaited getting together with his girlfriend. And I fixed a blackberry cobbler for dessert when James brought Amber by for pineapple upside down cake and cobbler Saturday night.

I am expecting a spectacular Sunday School lesson seeing as how Bob has had four days to prepare. He still wants to get on this computer and edit some more this morning.

It is Sunday morning, and we just saw James off. Three hard boiled eggs, some vitamins, coffee, and his truck mug filled with more coffee---and all roads lead by Amber's house. If he gets back on the road by 7:30am, he should get back to Missouri before dark, and the freezing temperatures. Snow predicted for where he is headed. But, maybe it will stay above freezing on the ground until he gets back. Then just 18 days, and James will be home for Christmas. And by January 22, he will be done with this chemical school training, and head back to Oklahoma. Then he will only be three hours from home and Amber.

A progress resupply vehicle is about to dock with the ISS, and later today, I wonder if the shuttle will touchdown in Florida (weather permitting) or California.

Bob got to eat a ham sandwich yesterday, and I used up the leftover potatoes, and stuffing pods. I baked extra stuffing in pyrex bowls, and then froze them in pod-like shapes in the freezer for later meals. Very tasty--and since they contain no butter, just no fat broth, homemade cornbread, celery, garlic, and onions---

Friday, November 28, 2008

Another Turkey, Another Feast

It is Friday here in Texas, and it is quiet again in the house. The dishwasher is humming, and there is probably enough for another load.

James and his beautiful girlfriend, Amber, came over for supper, and Benjamin, too. I cooked the other smoked turkey breast in the crock pot with those white, thin-skinned potatoes, and I made sweet potatoes with marshmellows, and we had whole wheat rolls, salad, two kinds of cranberry relish, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pineapple upside-down cake. Coolwhip comes in a can now, too. What fun. I sent the leftover turkey home with Ben. I don't think Bob nor I could look at it for one more meal for a while. We need to explore other meats. It was very tempting to pick up another turkey at Tom Thumb today. They had huge ones on sale for $7. If only there was an easy way to bring it home, saw it in small enough pieces to fit in the crock pot...

The online news coming out of India is so sad. Terrorists were targeting the Jews in Bombay. That Jewish Center was not that easy to find according to Treppenwitz, and he was just there last week. Go to his website and read it for yourself: http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/

As the story broke, I kept wondering which terrorist group it was, and what did they want. One group targeted the police, and the head of their anti-terrorist expert, and one group went for the hotels and a group struck the Jewish center. Some websites say that the terrorists have been planning it for weeks from inside the hotel. Other websites point out that they USED the news coverage to stay a step ahead, so the cable feeds to the hotel had to be cut, and news coverage given delays. Terrorists are like a cancer in that they adapt, and attack in new ways. I just wonder what movie they are copying. Seems like the gory movies coming out of Hollywood are giving the terrorists ideas.

Terrorists entering a city by boat, and mowing down innocent people are criminals with no regard for human life nor laws. These kind of criminals do not understand reason nor logic. They must be met with force, and crushed. And when we find out who funded them, who helped them plan, who aided them---those, too should be crushed. But, who will deal with these criminals, and the pirates of Somolia?

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Day

A Nice Quiet Day !

Windows open, dishes in the dishwasher, and its always a good day when we talk to all three of our sons---two in person, this year.

Andy called from Ohio. James is home, but brought his wonderful girlfriend over for a visit for a few hours before their big dinner at her sister's. And Ben dropped by for an hour before he headed to the big spread at Uncle Roy and Aunt Sally's in Frisco.

I should have labeled this holiday, STUFFING. Stuffing made with celery, onion, and garlic...broth, cornbread, and smoked turkey. The best comfort food. With a dollup of cranberry relish, and a bite of stuffing, what more do we need?

It is starting to cloud over, and we could use the rain...

Kitties patrol the yard. We noticed yesterday, that they stalk the doves eating the grass seed.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers. I'm stuffed.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Wednesday, but no church tonight, and Bob is home

Bob took a vacation day today to get ahead on his Sunday School lesson, and to use up days before the end of the year. It does not feel like a Wednesday, but the garbage did get picked up, so it must be. James is driving home. ETA 8pm at Amber's and then he will be home for a good night's sleep before tomorrow's festivities. For tomorrow is Thanksgiving. As Christians, we try to be thankful every day, but once a year, we shop like crazy, try new recipes, and stuff ourselves. And we listen to the MSM drag the Pilgrims and Puritans through the mud.

Let me say, I have never had to remove the feathers from a fowl. I have never had to cut the head off a fowl. I found a smoked turkey in the frozen food section of Walmart and brought it home, and took the plastic off it, and stuck that frozen smoked turkey into the crock pot to see how long it would take to heat it through. Since it is just Bob and me, we are still working on that smoked turkey. It tastes mighty salty to me, so I chopped some and put it in a stuffing cassarole dish with sauted celery, onion, and a whole clove of garlic. I baked my own cornbread for this endeavor, and used a box of regular stuffing and some Mrs. Dash, and some sage. And three cans of low sodium broth---I should have used four. It is a little dry. And we have plenty left for tomorrow.

I made up a batch of fresh cranberry relish---in the blender with orange juice to puree the whole oranges, and washed cranberries and washed pecans. Sometimes you can get a bag of pecans and they do not taste of that bitter pecan shell dust, but this bag needed a bath. Yum--orange juice, cranberries, whole cutie oranges, pecans and a little sugar to taste. It is good morning, noon and night.

Pumpkin pies are smoking up the house!!! I bought the fancy pie shells that come in a curled up long box. They unroll okay, but I needed bigger pie pans. I stood the sides up, but they fell down during baking, and a pie is lying on the burner giving the house that nice, burnt pie crust smell. Ambiance' Thankfully, we have the windows open as it is seventy degrees outside.

Fun-fun. I have run the dishwasher twice today already. Who thought of this "holiday"? Oh, yeah. We eat turkey for Thanksgiving in November, and at Christmas, and are so burnt out on turkey, that we do not bother the rest of the year---except sliced at Schlosky's. Tom Thumb (grocery store) was crowded this morning, but they had Promised Land egg nog---a treat our boys love. And I found some nice Pink Lady apples.

We are so blessed. Even though Bob is coming down with a cold---it gives him a sexy, deep voice. And he has time to get his Sunday School lesson done. And time to figure out why his laptop is not working. And time to water the grass. And spread that last bag of seed. And maybe fix the kitchen light. Always something with a house.

My pumpkin pie has brown sugar, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. And I made three little bowls of pumpkin pie without the crust. Helps with the overabundance of batter, and a taste tester sample. They cook quicker than the big pies. Most years I just make pumpkin pie in the square glass dishes and forgo pie crust all together, but Bob likes pie crust.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Today is Tuesday

While chopping on my hair this morning, I had the puppy cam up, and noticed that the puppies were being very naughty---they shredded the pee pads and scattered the mess all over their playpen area. Wow. They wore themselves out, and were still biting at the plastic underneath part and even choking occassionally. I wonder why the owners don't monitor them while they are at work? Then the owner came home for lunch about 1pm California time, and tripped and fell stepping over the sides of the pen, and hit the camera. But, after about an hour and a half, the owner had it all cleaned up, and back on. I also watched the NASA website. Turning urine into drinking water is just so hard to get excited about. But, the pictures from space are wonderful. And listening to them talk back and forth with the ground about where to stow stuff, and whatall to bring back is a hoot.

Since I had cooked so much yesterday testing recipes, it was easy to snack on nutritious stuff today. And Bob and I just finished the last of the blackberry cobbler after supper, and talking to James.

Clothes got folded, but there is still a dryer full needing hung up. And I knitted a few dishrags and a hotpad and got the box set up to mail my friend in Ennis as I had completed ones overflowing the shelf here. Soon as this box is full...I will put it in the mail.

I even called my neighbor one block over and told her about the puppy cam and the naughty puppies. She walked over with her grandson to see. Her little grandson is so cute. Three years old, and big brown eyes. I pulled out the Chevron cars for him to play with. Those are always a big hit.

Bob is home on vacation until Monday. Whoop. Five days at home !!!!! Wow

And my firstborn helped the grandchild call me this evening. I heard a little voice say, "mom?" "mom?" I was able to say, wow, are you riding in the car with Daddy? and are you going home to see mom?? I then heard, "car" and "mom" again. Too cute.
Andy said the ducks in Ohio were walking ON the lake. It dips below freezing there at night.

Monday, November 24, 2008

My Day...so far (Love you, James!)

I woke up this morning and noticed that Bob had gone for a run. I could be wrong but it seems like he left about 4:30am, and he was not back by 6am, so I got dressed and stood outside for a while looking for him. I started planning his funeral in my head, and wondering what route I should drive looking for him, when he came around the corner jogging. He said he could not see me as I was wearing dark clothes, but he could see the reflectors in my running shoes.

What is the definition of a precept?? What are precepts? Is it a Bible word? Our assignment from Effie yesterday was to look for all the occurrances of the word in Psalm 119. Each paragraph has one. Precept: a rule or pinciple prescribing a particular course of action or conduct. Law. An authorized direction or order. Writ. It only occurs 27 times in 27 verses, and most are in Psalm 119. I noticed that the word does not stand alone in Psalm 119. It is always, "Your precepts". As in belonging to God---God sets the standard, God designs the laws to keep us safe, and bring order. In this time of rampant relativity, I like to keep in mind that the precepts belong to God. God invented law, rules, order, ways, commandments, ordinances. God is not a god of chaos.

I ventured out to Walmart and purchased $176 worth of groceries for the next week. We have never had a smoked turkey. So, I put a smoked turkey breast in the crock pot to test it out. Expensive test. But, why wait? It may be just Bob and me on Thanksgiving Day. Why not be thankful today?? I am all for being thankful every day. I don't purchase celery and onions and garlic every day, but they sounded good sauted in stuffing. Stuffing can be frozen for fancy meals later, too. Frozen pilsbury rolls are in the freezer which will make fancy any meal--and surely, make Bob smile. The small red and thin-skinned small potatoes come in cute little plastic "steamer" bags now. I don't think they will need to be added to the crock pot until 2 or 3pm. Man, is Bob gonna be surprised at supper tonight. Kinda like a dress rehearsal. Dole has fancy frozen blueberries--sure were good for a late breakfast. And blueberries are good for the bladder just like cranberries.

Still on a quest for cranberries, and those little oranges called "cuties". But, I am ready for any pecan recipe. Walmart was pretty crowded for a Monday morning---that economic crisis, ya know. I was reluctant to purchase a "fresh" turkey which felt pretty frozen. And the spiral cut hams had expiration dates all over the place.

What a country. I can motor over to Walmart, purchase fresh, canned and fozen goodies fit for a king, bring them home, fill my frig, and start cooking. What a country. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for good quality food and water, and luxuries. And Thank You, Lord for Walmart. Please protect them from the libs.

Sallycat is tracking the sunspots on the carpet. Beautiful day. Turned off the furnace, and opened the windows.

9pm report: The dressing turned out nice and moist, but the smoked turkey breast cooked in the crock pot was overdone, hence, dry. I cooked it too long. Even from frozen, it does not need but three hours on high. Low would be better---if you can stand the smell all day. Smelled like a smoked ham. Had to keep telling myself it was a turkey. I slipped in the small red potatoes at 2pm, and they turned out fine. Too much food, but this was a practice run. I won't have to cook tomorrow..or Wednesday...when Bob is home.

The low sodium dressing is good, but I am leaning more towards a cornbread dressing, so I may just make up a pan of cornbread and season it myself. That would be an easier way to control the salt. Or wait and do a cornbread cassarole to use up the smoked turkey someday. Surely, the smoked turkey will freeze okay for cassaroles.

We were too stuffed to eat the blackberry cobbler. Oh well. Bob did not complain (or see) the garlic cloves in the stuffing. I love garlic. And celery stewed is more easily chewed. But, purple onions turn brown in stuffing. Might as well buy the cheaper yellow ones next time.

Bob beat me 403 to 383. He bingo-ed at least twice. I started the game with a long word which helps open the board. But, Bob knows his seven letter words for an extra fifty points.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Sunday Stuff

Bob worked on his Sunday School lesson until midnight. I did not even hear him take a shower and come to bed. Wait...seems like I DO remember asking him why he took a cold shower. He insists that its the little hairs that cool his body. But, it was a good thing I had the electric blanket on.

This morning, Bob continued editing and printed out another copy. We went to church where his lesson was pretty well received being part two. Bob was approaching the proof for a suffering Messisah in the Old Testament. The Jewish folks don't call it OLD because they don't recognize a NEW. What DID Jesus preach/teach on the Road to Emaus?? Jesus must want us to dig it out for ourselves, because that message is not recorded except for the outline---Jesus used the Torah and the prophets to show these two guys AFTER the ressurection.

Music was bad, and the service was bad, but Bob thinks we were an encouragement to an elderly widower.

Lunch at Saltgrass---they do a great shishka-bob. Delicious. They could have grilled the asparagus a little longer, and we took home this humongous piece of pumpkin cheesecake for later. It was huge. We won't dwell on Bob tromping me at Scrabble, 360 to 270. The man bingo-es with any blanks. I ended up with five "I"s.

A nap, a walk, picking up trash, then watering the front yard. Bob blew off the leaves, and reported that the new grass springs back with a little trompling. It is such a pretty green.

Bathed, ready for bed. James called. Good talking to him, comparing our bad sermons of the day. Makes you appreciate the good ones.

A little puppy cam watching...

Out of bread. Out of lunchmeat. I will be going to the grocery store tomorrow and stocking up for Thanksgiving. I plan on taking the crock pot with me, and whatever fits in there...

Here is my Thanksgiving list: (menu and shopping) turkey, ham, stuffing with onions and celery, cranberries, oranges, pecans for salad and rum cake, cans of fruit for cobblers, marshmellows, apples, lettuce, milk, bread, crackers, and last but not least: A THANKFUL HEART

Most years I curse under my breath wrestling a huge, slimy fowl--washing, careful not to touch anything, wash hands, and clean the sink after...and try to get it in the oven and thoroughly cooked but not dry...oh, the horrors. I wondered, who thought of this holiday??? Mom kills herself in the kitchen for a fifteen minute feed, and hours of clean up. Yikes. Now, I am older, wiser, smarter to look for more convenience foods. Those frozen rolls taste just as good as homemade.

I am drooling already for the cranberry salad---with fresh cranberries, oranges, pecans and a little sugar...blended up in the blender. YUM. I think James likes it. It does not keep very long----so I ether eat it three times a day until it is gone, or slip it in muffins, dressing, etc. Cranberries are so good for bladders, but I wonder how clean they are when I see them being harvested online.

I can't believe I am sitting here looking at puppy butt. Living with guys--three sons, bathroom humor was THE height of humor. Watching the puppy cam, and the little puppies are all tuckered out, and this one literally fell asleep half way out of the bed with its little boo-hiney (as my sister Tina would say) framed right in the middle of the shot. Too funny. Bob says he remembers being that tired in the Army. Ranger School. Now, the little puppy has slid back uphill, back into the bed and is out cold between two other puppies. Beautiful nutmeg colored puppies. They can be whirling dervishes. But, they like to touch each other in a heap when sleeping. Too cute.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Saturday, November 22

I want to remember my dear husband snug as a bug in a rug this morning. He usually has to get up and going before dawn, so Saturday is a nice morning to sleep in a little and take it easy. And it was cold in the house. Got down to 64 degrees, so when we did get up, we put on layers, I started the coffee, and we gave the new rye grass out front a good sprinkle with the hose. Coffee in one hand, sprinkler pressure attachment on the hose in the other. It was cloudy today, most of the day, so we broke down and turned on the furnace. No south sun to warm up the house, so we switched on the gas furnace and it warmed up to the default toasty setting of 68 degrees in here.

Sallycat did not like the strange noise of the furnace and insisted on being let outside and fussed at us to run for our lives, but she soon wanted back in when confronted by the neighbor's four cats prowling our backyard. One has the unfortuneate markings of a charlie chaplin or hitler type mustache. Pure white with two black spots on its side, and the black mustache. One is calico, and her newest teenager sized kitty that I have dubbed batman because its striking markings look like it is wearing a little cape and hood with black and gray in the cap in a round aurora borealis type flare. It is striking. They keep our backyard free of anything that moves...and surely there were no lizards about on such a cool morning.

For breakfast we dined on a baked biscuit with a blueberry sauce. It looked a lot like last night's dessert, but when aptly renamed, it took on a more breakfasty-name ambiance. Lunched on soup. Hung some clothes up from the dryer. Showed Bob yesterday's edition of Breitbart TV. And mostly, Bob worked on his Sunday School lesson. Last week's lesson which is on a similiar vein, can be found on his blog.

I took a nap, and heard the front doorbell, but Bob said it was someone inviting us to church. Usually, the doorbell heralds our five year old next door neighbor showing us his new shoes or asking for a cookie.

The sky cleared briefly, and gave us a little sunshine into the living room. We ventured out to the bank and chick-fill-you up, and watched the puppy webcam site on and off. It is almost 8pm, and the puppies are all piled on each other sleeping. They have had a lot of excitement today.

James just called. He will be home Wednesday night, Thursday morning.

I am knitting a combination Peaches and Creme and Sugar 'n Cream with lots of shade of brown. The coppery-color is pretty. I don't usually mix the two brands, but these looked so close--that they make a very multi-colored hotpad of brown, tan, copper, burnt orange, off-white, and a deep purple. I have a stack of nine dishrags done up, and I was able to use up all the half-balls of blue--that light purple-blue. How do you spell periwinkle??

Night James.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Temperatures

I enjoy weather websites. Here in Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (DFW) we experienced our first "freeze". Not all of the area got down to 32 degrees, but some did, and some even experienced the windchill of 25 degrees. Which, the radio (WBAP) reported had not seen such a low dip since the middle of March. The "official" temp at the airport--which is the only one that "counts" was 36 degrees. (oh, I can just hear my northern readers snorting at that !)

My husband and I are the only ones rattling around in our house these days, so we have not turned on the furnace just yet. It was tempting this morning, as the temperature inside the house dipped down to 65 degrees. But, it is starting to warm up, as our south wall gets full sun. Sallycat found the warmest spot behind the black curtain on the south wall where it is a balmy 82 degrees. I poked the thermometer into the screen on the south wall with the window open and it reads 72 degrees. So it is actually warmer outside on our south wall than inside the house. The front thermometer reads 42 degrees, so I will keep the front window shut for now. There is still a light breeze out of the north.

Candles burning--scented Yankee candles. (double wick says over 100 degrees on the thermometer) And my decorative strand of Christmas lights around the sink work as a light in my kitchen and warm it a bit. I put in all orange-yellow colored bulbs around Halloween time, and they still give the kitchen an nice glow. In summer, I unplug them as its silly to heat up the kitchen whilst running the AC. I wonder if we can tack up the Christmas lights up front this weekend?! Maybe after Bob gets his Sunday School lesson all done. This year, I want to copy what we saw whilst patrolling last year---Christmas lights hidden up out of sight under the eaves so that they give a splash of light on the front of the house. Then we can leave them up all year--out of sight, since Bob installs them with that precise staple method. I am not saying we will light them all year. We do have neighbors that leave their Christmas decorations up all year. When we walk by their houses, we sarcastically remark to ourselves how early or late they are in decorating for Christmas. For example, today's comment would be, "look how early they are---they must be the first ones to put up those door sized candy canes for Christmas framing their front entrance." Whereas, a comment mid-March might be: "look, they are ready for...." I don't know, but red and green just look odd before Halloween, in my opinion.

I wonder what happened to the puppy cam today? Oh, well.

It is a balmy seventy-two degrees here at the computer. The computer stack thingy puts out the heat and registers 80 degrees. Bob's brown chair sitting in the sun is registering at 90 degrees. Mud turtle temp. No wonder Bob can sit there in his shorts. The sunshine usually interferes with his laptop screen, so we close the black curtain.

noon: puppy site it up, but there is an black traveling cage in view. Are we going on a trip?? Is someone being transported to their new home?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Music

I found this over at Gagdad Bob's site, One Cosmos. I just love it when someone puts into words why---and this just makes sense to me. Don't get me started on my beef against "praise" music at church, those seven-eleven songs of eleven words sung seven times.

But, I was raised on good music. Lots of classical. Lots of hymns. I could never understand rock or rock concerts. So here is the quote I stole from Gagdad Bob: Pope Benedict made a comment to the effect that rock music was narcissistic and "enclosing."

"I did find this comment by the Pope: "Rock [music] is the expression of elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe." True as far as it goes, but there is nevertheless rock music that is liberating in an upward way, but much more that only liberates downward, and therefore enslaves."

I guess this would explain why alcohol and illegal drugs are used at rock concerts, too, in order to help lower inhibitions?

No wonder Jesus said to guard your heart, and ear gate, and bring into submission all thoughts to Him. I was so slow as a mom---when some of my sons leaned toward the bad music, I was mystified as to why they would go there. Escape? Peer pressure? We restricted access to it as long as we could. And even intercepted horrid music a cousin tried to slip them via cds.

Please put Your Song in my heart today, Lord. And thank you for helping me understand the subject of idolatry.

Go to Breitbart TV and learn about Merry Tossmas

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=225093&widget=1

Meet Liz and Scott. Liz Stephans and Scott Baker. A breath of fresh air, a couple of conservative journalists who bring to light news, and videos you might not see in the MSM. They are live out of Pittsburg at 4pm ET. Then the show loops for convenient viewing. Last night's show is in segments dealing with the subjects. Merry Tossmas, and info on Focus on the Family.

I highly recommend it!! Love, mom

I know Thanksgiving is not until next week, but I can't wait to say, MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Bob won again. 325 to 277

Give that man some blanks and he can bingo twice in a row ! Yikes. I had to take the blanks away from him. He is just too dangerous with blank tiles. Whoa.

Yesterday, my adventure at Walmart will make me think twice about using their "site to store" service. I received the email saying part of my order was in and they would only hold it until December 9th. So, I printed out my email notification as instructed, and I even read the warning that you must sign for each item. Well, the "site to store" pick up area is way in the back behind the yarn, behind the shoes, way back by the bathrooms. And the employee break area must be back there, too. A parade of employees walked by, and most were looking for dates. I feel sorry for the women employees at this Walmart, as the male employees hit on them. Yikes.

I handed the clerk the printout, and she went to her computer screen and made it spit out the receipts. She handed me the receipts and asked me to sign. I assured her that I would be glad to sign when I was actually eye-balling the actual order. So, she stuffed the receipts under the printer, and went to look for the order. I should have taken advantage of the bench. I should have eaten lunch first. I should have brought my camera and practiced taking pictures. I had my yarn with me, but there is just something nasty listening to the toilets flush. It is just not the shopping ambiance I enjoy.

The order was in a big bag. Every item I had been notified about was there and so I dutifully signed five slips. The clerk could not find number six, but assured me that if I needed to bring something back, just bring my printout. Sure. She called for someone on her microphone to come change out the printer paper, but they couldn't get it to spit out more paper, either. I continued shopping for things on my list, and checked out with no problems.

The online Walmart shopping experience is convenient in that I found sizes the store is usually out of. But, it might be worth it to pay the extra 97 cents for delivery.

I regaled Bob with this boring Walmart story on the way back downtown to fetch his memory stick. Memory on a stick, is that not funny?? Bob worked downtown Fort Worth yesterday, and had forgotten his little memory stick, so we fetched it before it got to late. Who knew Fort Worth does suffer five o'clock traffic jams?? Who knew? Now we know. Bob said that seeing the pump truck parked by Ruth Chris was off putting. I agree. Any opportunity to bad-mouth Ruth Chris is a good day to me. Ruth Chris and Del Frisco are literally on the same block off Main Street in downtown Fort Worth, and their competing valet parking is a joke. I have never used valet parking in my life. And I am an old woman. But I have waited outside Bob's building many a time watching the valet folks literally drive the cars twenty feet to the curb and charge people $5 plus tips for that privilege. But, I digress... Outside Fort Worth, on the less pleasing east side, I noticed a store dedicated to "Romance". Their list of products promised to meet all your romance needs. Not a half mile away is a massuage business. I commented to Bob that the romance and massauge folks should combine resources for a one-stop romance convenience. There are all these industrial tile and rock shops along the east side. Great gas prices, but I think the bars on the windows swayed Bob in wanting to stop. When a passenger and not the driver, I had the opportunity to observe more. Bob drove down streets I would never venture in broad daylight. But, then, I am a chicken.

Bob watered the grass shoots last night. Our rye grass crop is doing well. The promise of months and months of winter green. Ah. Restful to the eyes.

Wow--that James has the brains for this Chemical Corps training. He said he made a 98 on a re-test on radiation. And a 100 on another test yesterday. Way to go, James!! Somebody keeps whispering that they won't need this information, but I hope when James finds out he did need to know something, that he comes back to these instructors and correct them. Between al qada and iran making bomb noises, there will be a need for the Chemical Corps. Just today, the Zawaheary terrorist called obama a bad name which the press will not accurately report because of pc, and obama has not even taken office yet. The enemy sees obama as weak. Yikes.

I did find a cone of beautiful copper and brown shades Peaches and Creme yarn at Walmart yesterday. And I have knitted two dishrags from it already. Certain colors just sing to me. And the cones are so much cheaper than the skeins. I have a thank-you bag of dishrags and hot pads all ready for our neighbor that gave us some cookie dough. Now to catch her at home in order to give it to her...

On this Wednesday, I am trying to remember the good pass scheduled for tonight at 6:18 pm---just as Bob is pulling into the drive, we need to look SSW for a pass of the space station and shuttle fly overhead. 84 degrees means right overhead. and minus 3.0 means very bright. Should be fun. Then church and the second half of the Expelled movie. Then Scrabble. What more??

Time to vacuum, and put some hang-up laundry away. And the birdfeeder needs refilled. This new feeder is indeed squirrel proof. And my new addiction to the live puppy website. (No, I don't want a puppy---I'd rather watch someone else pick up their poop) And cake wrecks oughta have a new post up now...

9:44am---wow, I just saw this email from James: 299 on his PT test. 300 is maximum, I think. I will email for clarification. Way to go, James !!! And in super cold temps, too. (super cold compared to what he is used to in Texas)

12:34pm after lunch. Wow--I sit down to write, and think I don't have anything to write about, and fill up a page. I read somewhere that to become a good writer, you just need to write. And to think I used to write letters to friends and relatives all over the country--and blather on and on, when this method is better---they can read if/when they want to.

The sheets are changed, the washer is humming, the puppies are barking (online) and Rush is going on about what conservatism means. And I worked on the hall closet. It is time to donate a bunch of Bob's old suits. Our boys are past needing them for plays or costumes. I moved some stuff to the other guest room closet so that we can access our coats easier.

And I got a notice that the other items are in at Walmart---so I can finish that order, and pick up some toothpaste for Bob.

I don't think these puppies--Shiba Inu, are a very calm breed. Their little bark can be quite shrill. They are so funny to see playing. They fight over toys, but sleep together in a heap.

10:53pm Bob and I almost tied. We played Scrabble, and I kept Bob from using the blanks, so I won with a final score of 219 - 218. I wonder if anyone has ever tied at Scrabble?? Then what happens?

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Thinking Out Loud

I am trying to wrap my brain around the strange comments my youngest, newly minted 21 year old made last Sunday night, and the time before---these comments about how his drunk-for-a-roommate feels threatened by us, Ben's folks.

I have only met this guy once. I am sure he has listened to Ben for two years describe his life with us. So, why would he be reluctant to eat out with us, and why would he tell Ben that he is afraid he'd get in a fight with Ben's Dad, Bob?

Why are we a threat?

What have we done to Ben's roommate to be such poor testimonies?

We were sad to see Ben pick such a roommate because joining with a reprobate usually pulls you down. It is usually a losing battle to join with a reprobate in order to "help" or "improve" them. Something about the lowest common denominator.

Reading Gagdad Bob over at One Cosmos has triggered some possibilities. His Monday post is interesting.

But, thinking out loud: do criminals feel threatened in and around policemen?? As well they should. As a law abiding citizen, I have viewed policemen as my friend, and the percentage of corrupt policemen to be very low or residing mostly in Juarez. As a miss-goody-two-shoes, my pride in following the rules turns to pride when I look down my nose at those who find the rules restricting or ruining their fun. I see a good reason for the laws of the land, and the rules of the game. But, if the new administration decides to pass a law that says right is wrong and wrong is right, then I will have to be a rebel. I answer first to God, the Creator and Ruler Supreme. And there is an evil in the land which seeks to destroy God's given order of free will, marriage, family and nation.

As Christians, is it our job to be "nice" to evil? Will the enemy get to us by showing us shrill about certain important yet further down the list of what is to be our focus?

Jesus died for the sins of the world. Even--and especially, mine.

Jesus said He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE and NO ONE comes to the Father except through Jesus. We trust in Jesus as our Savior. Our desire is to daily obey, learn about, and do His will for our lives. Part of our mission is to lay out the good news to the world. This can be as simple as, hey, have you heard what Jesus did on the cross and did you know that Jesus is not dead? Jesus rose from the dead, and wants us to spend eternity with Him. We had this problem of sin, and Jesus took our place, and died for all our sins, just like He promised and someday He is coming back to set everything right.

God has a plan. God gave us the Bible which explains that plan and who and what He is. God loves us, but set up certain institutions, laws, and commandments so that man would not destroy themselves. Even as a loving parent watches over their toddler 24/7, God watches over us in all the stages of our life individually, and as a nation. God desires us to honor Him, but He does not make us love Him. It is a choice. And since God put free will in motion, bad things do happen even to good people. God prevents some bad things, and allows some bad things. But, we trust in His knowing all and His plan where He knows best.

God said NO MURDER. God invented life, and desires that we all live out our lives, and enjoy His creation. God invented conception, and carefully knits together each and every baby in his mothers womb. That is God's way.

God invented marriage between one man and one woman. To say that marriage is anything else is a direct attack on God and His design. God said to honor father and mother, and do not covet anothers spouse nor stuff. It is that simple.

Your Will Be done, Lord. Please make us bold where it counts, and guard our lips when we muddy the waters and be drawn in to a distracting side issue. Please help us love the sinner, and hate the sin. Please make us a good testimony. Attractive and shiny to those who want to hear your good news, and your will be done to those who do not want to turn to You.

My sons in the military know that they are ready, willing and able to die if necessary to defend freedom---freedom of speech, and freedom to worship, and freedom to even disagree. How can I do less?

Monday, November 17, 2008

Watching Puppies

Over at Breitbart you can link to a site with six very active puppies. They play, they fight, they sleep, they poop, they .... Are they getting enough to eat? They look healthy. But, they are very curious puppies.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam

Firstborn says it is snowing at their house. It was a gorgeous day here. I walked around the block, and did not sweat much at all. Found two quarters. Then I walked later and picked up half a sack of trash. Stinky beer cans.

Bob beat me at Scrabble. 317 to 268. Bob bingo-ed once, but I played ZOOLOGIES.

Jupiter and Venus are getting closer and closer. Spaceweather.com has the star charts, and on Dec. 1st, the moon will join them in a very close conjunction.

Fun to see so many floating men and women in the space station.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Watching docking and waiting for hatches to be opened

Docking looked smooth. The space shuttle come up from below the space station. But, then there was this long delay waiting for dampening out. Strange.

I beat Bob 323 to 251 at Scrabble. Bob gave the new grass shoots a drink of water. Yes, we have teeny, tiny shoots of rye grass. All the seed did not get washed away after all.

Supper with Ben and Jenny...

more later...

It is now after 8pm. Something is bothering me about our visit with Ben. I just can't put my finger on it yet. Used? Maybe Ben was just humoring us for a free meal. I need to pray more before a visit. Ben keeps throwing out comments about his roommate joining us sometime. But, how his roommate is afraid we would "judge" him. Strange. Jenny seemed nice, but I could see them both texting under the table. Its kinda rude. Why bother? Time to pull back and let Ben make contact when he wants to. I remembered to give him his jury summons. December 1st. It will probably eat two days. Days he will be needing to work. Oh, well. We warned him that its a cattle call at first, lots of hurry up and wait, so boring to Ben who will be chaffing at the bit as to why they don't do things more efficiently.

I dunno. Such beautiful weather. Bob calls Logan's Roadhouse, Logan's Roadkill. They serve peanuts to snack on. And they throw the shells on the floor. It would be interesting to show when they first open to see how well they clean up each day.

Ah--just walked by the guest bedroom, and saw that Sallycat is sitting inside and empty box. I wonder why? I had set the empty box on the corner of the bed which she usually does not use. Silly kitty. We tried to take a picture with James' digital camera but could not get the flash to work. Next time a young person comes over, we will have to have them give us tips on using this fancy camera. Why would the Sony Cybershot people make it so complicated?? Why isn't it old people friendly? Maybe Sallycat wants us to mail her to James for a visit.

Washer beeping...

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Saturday Stuff

Here we are, sitting around reading blogs. Bob is working on his Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. We have watched the NASA highlights, and talked to our daughter-in-law in Ohio, and our Army son in Missouri. Our Air Force son has had a funeral every day this week. And looking at the weather websites, I bet today's funeral includes rain. Snow "bursts" for the Army son in Missouri today. What, praytell, is a snow burst?

It was so cute to hear our daughter-in-law talk about keeping the grandchild coloring on the paper. Every few sentences would be interrupted by, No, ____ color on the paper. Like paper training. All the world is your canvas. And she said that washable crayons come off walls, and the couch, but clothes, not so much. What fun.

Cool and windy here. We have opened the south window just to listen to the breezes, and the birdies sing at the birdfeeder. Our backyard is such a pretty green. We are so thankful for the rain of a couple of days ago. Spaced just right to give us a green backyard until January.

Breakfasted upon fried eggs, muffins, and coffee.

I am knitting a pink and grey pot holder/hot pad for a sweet neighbor that gave us some cookie dough last night. Here I was, just walking to the mailbox, and she handed me a bag of frozen cookie dough medallions. So, I am making up a gift bag of knitted dishcloths and hot pads as a thankyou.

More later...

Should be a good ISS pass on Monday night at 7pm if the weather stays clear.

LATER: Wow. Great movie over at Mudville, called, KHARTOUM, with Charlton Heston, made back in 1966. Helps look at where with are today with osoma. Wow. Thank you, Mudville for linking to this fantastic movie. Wish they had played that in my high school history classes. I found a book the Christian General wrote: http://books.google.com/books?id=6TBHAAAAIAAJ&dq=1883+Gordon&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=FtFkMv0NU9&sig=-8dRkbApqCAbXTWqfJqFPt4ARgk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA43,M1

Amazing stuff. How come I never heard of General Charles George Gordon (1833-85) ??

He was my age when he died trying to help the people of Khartoum. And I read online that the people of England mourned his death in a big way. Names things after him, and honored his memory. Amazing.

Army son in Missouri saw his first snow, and Air Force son said he saw/is experiencing sleet wherever he is in the five state area near Ohio today.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Friday Night Launch

Just watched a beautiful night launch of the space shuttle. We watched as we played Scrabble. It was a close game. We were tied 265 at the next to the last plays. Bob pulled ahead and went out first. 284 to 272

Marie Calendar skillet meal with artichokes, and whole wheat rolls. Warm rolls sure made Bob's dimples appear. He was so excited, that he let me pray!

Cool front came on through today. It got real windy about 4pm, and I had to start shutting windows.

Heavy Dew

The dew is so heavy that it is dripping off the roof. That will nourish the new grass seed, won't it?

Here in Texas, we plant rye grass seed in the fall so that our yard is green all winter. Our gully washer of a storm the other night washed most of the seed away or into little grass seed windbreaks. We won't know until it grows, but Bob scattered another bag of seed just in case.

Did I mention that Walmart is playing Christmas Carols already? When I asked a restocking clerk about it, he replied that ever since Halloween, Walmart has been playing carols. I don't know--it just makes me smile to hear a trumpet rendition of "fall on your knees...." in the pickle aisle.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Two nights in a row ! 303-287

Wow---two nights in a row I have beaten Bob at Scrabble. That has to be a first.

And he bingo-ed twice !!

Wow

I learned a new Military Acronymn !!!

Watching online videos of a country and western gal who did a USO tour in Iraq. They used the term, CHU which stands for the customized containerized housing units. Wow

I love how the military adapts. They took these containers and made little rooms out of them for the soldiers. Great recycling.

In California, these containers are piling up. So, architects are putting them together to make houses or offices or schools. Cool

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

330 to 271 I won !

This has been your daily Scrabble report. Mom beat Dad, 330 to 271. Poor Dad drew bad, bad hands. I ended up with five "I"s.

How was my day, you ask? I got up early to the smell of coffee brewing because I remembered to set the coffee maker on auto start last night. Bob worked in Fort Worth today, so he did not have to go so early. I headed to Walmart and got some grocery shopping done. Bob asked me to pick up some more rye grass seed. I walked into the garden department at Walmart first thing. Their garden center is quickly turning into Christmas central. But, Bob told me where he found the grass seed a few weeks ago, so I headed there, but no seed. Lots of fertilizer left. And a worker pushing a grocery cart of bags he had taken off the shelves...so I wandered over to him and asked where the seed was. He told me to my face that they were out. Did not have any. I pointed to the seed bags in his cart, and said, I want those two. He reluctantly pulled them out. To. My. Face. Amazing. Thankfully, I had watched my four year old nephew yesterday, so it was fresh in my mind how four year olds say, "no" to save time.

Armed with victuals, I headed home, ate breakfast, put groceries away, and later Bob called home saying he needed something from home, and so I made him lunch. Bertolli bag and a bag of frozen corn. It is so rare for him to come home for lunch. Armed with quarters, he went back to downtown Fort Worth.

Boring enough yet? It was a beautiful day. Leaves falling at a steady rate. Kinda overcast until later when the sun came out and fluffy clouds drifted slowly by. I got a dishrag knitted watching Brietbart TV. They featured a most disturbing story about a church in Lansing, Michigan targeted by criminals last Sunday who disrupted their Sunday morning service chanting, yelling, pulling the fire alarm, making out on the stage in front of the shocked pastor. Sadly, former members or members children raised there that knew the layout, and how to get to the upper level to release a banner. It is a crime to pull a fire alarm, isn't it??

What would our church do if attacked? How do your drown out deviants? How do you fight back? I noticed the same symbols used by criminals during the holocaust. They can't come up with anything original. Have we learned nothing from history?

Catering to the teens and being afraid to harm their self-esteem hasn't worked out so well, has it. Wonder where the criminals got the money for banners, outfits, megaphones, glitter...some school that uses the word, "like" a lot. Such tolerance. not.

Time to open the Bible and read the book of Romans again.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Today felt like Wednesday, but its Tuesday, Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day. For a long time, my most literal household would get upset at those who mix up Memorial Day, and Veteran's Day, but in reading some stories of living Veterans, I think I understand why---because in their minds, yes, they are the Veterans, and yes, they came home. But, their memories are full of the dear friends that did not get to come home, and why wasn't it them?

Then, our newly minted Army Man said he felt funny taking Veteran's Day off because he did not yet feel like a veteran. And most veterans had to work today. I think the banks and post office were closed, but my husband, a veteran, had to go to work.

And I knew it was Tuesday. I set out the bags of fallen leaves and recycling bin for tomorrow, as Wednesday is garbage day, but somewhere I slipped a cog. Somewhere today, it started feeling like Wednesday. And so when Bob came home, I gave him the choice of breakfast foods for supper or McDonalds before Wednesday night church. Bob chose McDonalds. We ate. We talked. We drove across the street from the McDonalds (which is a dangerous manuever crossing a busy street with the church driveway, McDonald's and Braum's driveways all close together. You take your life in your hands to do this.) We sat in the church parking lot, and wondered where everybody was. Maybe we were just early. I was about to get out of the car and turn on the church porch lights, when it dawned on Bob that church would not start for another 24 hours. Silly me. Silly, silly me.

I got to keep my four-year-old nephew today. He threw up at school yesterday, and they think it was just bad milk, but had to stay home and not throw up for 24 hours. So, we watched the BEE MOVIE, TOY STORY, and TOY STORY 2. And we even took a nap in the recliners. My nephew was not real keen on the nap idea, but I said, lets try closing our eyes for fifteen minutes. He then snoozed for two and a half hours until his momma came to pick him up. He us a sweet little boy, and very easy to watch. He usually visits with his big brothers that do not let him play with anything fun for very long. But, again today, like one day last week, he had all the toys to himself.

So, I don't know what happened. Sunday felt like Sunday, but we got to meet James' wonderful new girlfriend Sunday night. And then Monday night, we got to eat out with James and his wonderful new girlfriend. And then it stormed. And I think all our grass seed washed away. We will see when it sprouts where the seed congregated. I remember being asleep in bed after midnight and there was this huge thunder crash. It was so loud.

Today is Tuesday. Today is Tuesday. Today is Tuesday. James left this morning to drive back to Missouri. All roads lead to his wonderful new girlfriend's house or place of work. He is so funny. When he came into town for the weekend last Friday night, he stopped first at her house. And for a while, I thought maybe just James' laundry came home for the weekend...but we are glad he had a good time. To meet such a wonderful, Christian girl, well, its and answer to prayer.

Monday, November 10, 2008

In Honor of Veteran's Day---future Veterans!

A Picture our Army Man sent from his phone

More Digital Camera Play

Kiss me, baby !



This picture is from last May---and Mr. Graduate was tired of two days of posing, and fuss. I love his choice of mafia colors to match his college gown. Ha

Learning to use the digital camera



James is letting us use his digital camera. It is so quick and easy to upload pictures onto the blog thisaway. Ha. Let's see how this does.

This is my handsome husband Bob. He is my most willing and available subject. And he has a great smile and dimples.

It is just you and me, babe!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Friday, November 7, 2008

November is Wounded Warrior Month

http://lesliekamm.blogspot.com/

Go read a wonderful blog written by a mom of a Wounded Warrior. Amazing story of PVT Kevin Kammerdiener.

Mudville Gazette dot com also links to the CPT Rob Yllescas story. Lots of opportunities for our prayers and support.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Mining Treasure from what Jesus Said

Abel was a prophet !! See Luke 11:49, 52

Jesus was talking to the religious authorities of the day, and pointed out how they were guilty of neglecting justice and the love of God, and they were guilty of showing partiality, and when one them protested that Jesus’ words were offensive and insulting, Jesus continued pointing out their evil:

“Woe to you lawyers as well ! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you ! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. Consequently, you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. For this reason also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them will they will kill and some they will persecute, in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ Woe to you lawyers ! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

I just love it when Jesus clicks and drags Abel into history. Abel was murdered by his brother merely because Abel obeyed God’s command and did things God’s Way, and that made his brother mad, and jealous. Abel’s brother decided to be angry, and jealous. God even warned Abel’s brother about his crouching sin. And that is one of the first stories in Genesis. A thousand years or more before God invented the Jewish people, so we cannot claim that Jesus was just talking to the Jews. We are witnesses. We are either prophets or the ones who persecute the prophets. We are either those who help further the good news about Jesus, or we are the ones blocking the door and hiding the key. Take your pick. What are you??

When I read the Abel story in Genesis, it looks like Abel gets an unfair place. He did not ask for a brother with problems. Abel is probably not even his own mother’s favorite child. Abel’s job was with the stinky sheep. (Well, maybe sheep did not stink yet.)

And yet, God honors Abel with honorable mentions throughout the Bible. And God avenges Abel. God judges the murderer, and puts the world on notice that murder is wrong and that God is The Judge.

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Hebrews 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

Abel is pre-Mosaic Law. Abel is someone we will meet in heaven. What fun it will be to interview him, and ask what the world was like and how long he lived, and whatall did his parents teach him?

Will Jesus call me a prophet? Or a stumbling stone?

Will Jesus call me a prophet? His witness? Or a hindrance?

Will Jesus call me friend? Or foe?

And Abel, whatall have you been doing and seeing and learning for six thousand years of human history?

Abel was never a husband, never a dad. But, call him uncle, and mentor, and the first shepherd.

We serve an Awesome God who sees everything. Nothing is hidden from Him. He is our Righteous Judge. There is such Comfort with our God. He loves us and cares for us, and does not take kindly to those who think they are getting away with anything.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Wednesday Wrapup

Last night, I got to speak on Brietbart TV !! It was SO fun.

I started watching Scott Baker and Liz Stephans maybe six months ago. They come on at a good time for me. I sit here and fold clothes, and knit, and read blogs. They are a conservative voice, and did the work the MSM refused to do.

My husband and I lived without a TV in our house for what, ten years now? We tried to encourage our boys to read, and found TV distracting, and I hated it when we were guilty of yelling at our precious boys for blocking the TV screen. So, when the color went out, and the TV died, we let it go. Our boys finished junior high and high school just fine. Ironically, our youngest actually won two TVs at the senior prom party. They all have TVs now in their residences.

We let the very liberal local newspaper subscription go years ago, too. And turn more and more to the internet for a more balanced take on what is going on in the world. I read a lot of conservative blogs, and found Brietbart TV online.

So, last night, when Scott and Liz were doing a four hour election show, it was fun to watch, and participate. You can submit stories to Brietbart TV, and they respond to emails, and also manage online IM-ing. And it was so fun when they asked for my phone number, and then actually called. Bob was suprised, but he is used to me being mentioned on Brietbart. After supper, we took our walk, and I set the timer to go off at 7pm and warned him that Scott and Liz might be calling. He was busy watching the electorial maps on his laptop and watching Brietbart TV online over my shoulder.

So, thanks Scott and Liz !!! You made the election returns so memorable.

About the election results---I am astounded what our country spends to elect a President. And even though Senator McCain was outspent, and the MSM against him, help me with the math---of the 300 million Americans, over 55 million voted FOR Senator McCain. And over half of all Americans voted. No longer was there voter apathy.

This morning, it was sad to hear that President-elect Obama's daughters had to earn a puppy?? That is sad. And I don't envy them growing up in the fishbowl that is the White House.

I am SO thankful that folks in Chicago BEHAVED themselves last night. I so feared riots. And I pray that God give President-elect Obama wisdom, and protect him and his family because Biden makes me shudder. That guy makes stuff up as he goes along. And I hope President-elect Obama keeps repeating the phrase he used last night: "government cannot solve all your problems."

And is President-elect Obama serious about "those who would tear the world down"??? Palestinian terrorists celebrated by sending 35 Qassams and motar shells into Israel. And Russia can't wait to test his seriousness.

I put out my flag yesterday and again today.

On our walk last night, I remarked to Bob that he probably wondered at the time, why the testing of a jimmy carter presidency. Now, Bob can turn to his sons and comfort them as they serve under a president that has not a clue about what the military is all about. Obama has throw around figures---as if throwing 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan will solve the problem. Our troops are not a thing. Our troops are made up of brave men and women who can do a job and complete a mission. Those 30,000 troops you want to just throw into the mix need 100,000 to support their mission. And yet, Obama also talks about cutting the military 25 percent?

The talaban has already told Obama to get out of Afghanistan. Today. It will be interesting to see what Obama decides to do.

Thank you, President Bush for your class, and example of what a true Gentleman looks like. I wish you all the best as you come back to Texas. And I hope and pray you enjoy your days back home here in Texas.

And thanks to Meghan McCain for her wonderful website. Thanks for all the wonderful pictures and stories the MSM refused to give us.

I suspect the press is pretty pleased with themselves. How long before they turn on their guy?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Election Day

I read yesterday that Chicago has a tendency to riot when they WIN sports--like basketball. Cars get torched, stores vandalized. So, it occurred to me last night that someone in Chicago is planning on going to the park and participating in the huge party planned for this evening, and although they did not plan on dying, they will fall victim to the party and rioting. And that sounds so cynical, but I think it is sad. What a waste of a life. That person has a mom and a dad who love them. And will have wished their loved one just stayed home and watched election returns at home.

There are those that just want all this to be over. No more robo-calls. No more political ads on radio or in junk mail. The champaign was just too long. We are tired of seeing their faces, hearing the same speeches, and we are tired of the alarming news from the left that seeks to shut down discourse and freedom. Tolerant they ain't. The media is in such deep denial about their bias. Just this morning, a reporter from ABC cut off McCain mid-speech. They don't cut off his opponent.

I wish we inked fingers to signify a voter. It would cut down on fraud. A little.

I wish we voted on the same day taxes are due. It would help us remember how much we already pay these people to govern us.

It oughta be a sign when the whole world including your enemies want a certain guy to win. It oughta give you pause when a certain guy running for president has such distain for the police, and asks his secret service guarding him to hide.

Why did I not put a sign in my yard?? As a Christian, I believe that God wants us to pray for those in authority over us. And as a Christian, I believe that any extra money we have goes to missionaries, and things with eternal consequences. As a Christian, I believe God is in control of history. He knows what our country needs, and God alone can bring our country around to His Way of thinking---a country without anger, arrogance, strife... Only God can remove the anger and help us get along and love our neighbor as ourselves. Only God can help us show respect to the elderly, and cherish the unborn and love and teach the children. As a Christian, we delight in a President and Vice-President, Senators, Reps, Mayors, etc who love and honor God and seek His will and His Ways with all their heart, soul and mind. As a Christian, I need a yard sign that talks about how God loved us so much, that He went to a lot of trouble to rescue us from our sin problem, and how He is coming back, and then He will set everything right. Until then, things look bleak sometimes, and there is suffering, and hurt, and the consequences of free will. But, someday, it will all make sense.

I did chuckle to get an email encouraging me to read Eccl. 10:2. Now that is funny! God does have a great sense of Humor! ! ! !

God set in motion free will, but also the framework of authority, nationalism, laws, order. We serve an Awesome God. I need a yard sign that says: "The Tomb is Empty" "Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and the sins of the whole world, and He promised to come back." May He find us busy pleasing Him. And if He has called certain ones to serve in high office, I pray He give them His Wisdom and Insight. They are gonna need it.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Sunday and Autumnal Colors

I changed our clocks yesterday afternoon. So, we got to wake up in the light. With the time change, sunrise was at 6:47am. It is 5pm now, and the sun is no longer shining in the south window. Sunset comes at 5:36pm. James said that every watch and clock he owns sets itself. wow.

We noticed the trees are all turning pretty yellows and oranges and reds. The oak tree behind the little house has a little of each color. It was a pretty drive to eat lunch with Ben and Jenny. When I asked how they met, the reply included the convoluted but cute: Jenny is Ben's roommate's older brother's first girlfriend. I think it got that right. When will we know Ben is serious about a girl? When he pulls her chair out for her? Jenny seemed very nice. I am getting used to Ben's friends having hair in vivid colors and piercings. In fact, if Ben ever introduces us to one without, we will probably tell her, "you know, you are the first one without orange hair and piercings." I remember seeing ear lobe holes that big in National Geographic magazine when I was a kid. Amazing how styles come back around, eh? It is hard not to speculate what those holes will look like in twenty years. But, by then, plastic surgery will probably help.

Home after lunch for a little nap, and laundry advice giving. Hey, James, did you get all your clothes into and then out of the dryers?? They make powdered bleach safe for colored clothes. Better start with that. The liquid bleach is kinda dangerous, especially around all your camo. I put one small splash into my white load, but you have to be VERY careful not to splash any on your clothes you are wearing, or the washer surfaces, or the floor, or anything within ten feet radius. And never directly on the clothes. Into running water.

Why does silly Sallycat have to jump up on the bed and walk on top of me to get to far corner of the bed spot?? Is it a declaration to let you know she is there, so don't turn over and kick her? And if you walk by in the dark in the middle of the night, she will reach up and ever-so-gently, pat you with her paws.

What am I doing now? Reading blogs and knitting.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

All breathing fine

When our boys were little, Bob/Dad was in charge of their allowances. I rudely called it paying them for breathing. It was a Saturday thing, and a way to encourage them to save. I'll never forget a tearful firstborn who thought Dad had cheated him with a paper dollar instead of coins. To a small child, more coins mean more money. Bob had gone back to the paper or his breakfast or something, and when I noticed big tears about to fall, I asked our firstborn, "Did Daddy cheat you?" "Uh-huh" was the sad reply. So, Bob traded back. And we waited a few more years before paying the allowance in paper money.

Paying them for breathing, somehow turned into checking on their breathing. Having received no calls or emails in a few days, I took the initiative to call them, and Bob got on the phone to chime in, and let them know mom was checking for good breathing.

Ben was doing fine. Maybe he will eat lunch with us tomorrow. James was pondering rejection for a credit card. And confessed he had talked to a certain young lady for two hours yesterday by phone. And that he had taken the bags of Halloween candy to the old veterans home to distribute when he received no trick or treaters. That was nice of him. We hope he did not put some old person into a diabetic coma. Andy was out shopping, and he said that in Ohio the Ohioans trick or treat on Thursday instead of Friday, the 31st. What is up with that? Hope they vote on time.

Time to play Scrabble.

More Earthquakes. Did not feel them.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Maps/US2/32.34.-98.-96.php

Tina, you will have to copy and paste this address into the top bar thingy to go to the site, 'cause I don't know how to embed. I have been shown many times, and as soon as I do it all by myself a few times, maybe I'll get the hang of it.

Bob got the front weeded on the left side of the walkway. Yippeee ! Looks so much better. But, we need to plant something there or the weeds will just come back. I am all for something simple, like grass. Or cactus.

Using the AC on this first day of November. Feels good.

Time change today. I have already adjusted most of the clocks. Might as well ease into it, in my opinion.

More later...