I don't know...this must be really hard (Emphasis mine):

Clinton: Playing Field for Her as Candidate Not Even Because of Her Gender

February 28, 2008 8:44 PM

In an interview with ABC News' Cynthia McFadden to air on this evening's "Nightline," Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., says it's tougher for her to run as a woman than it is for her male opponent.

Asked why she thinks so many women may be feeling sorry for her, Clinton said, "I think a lot of women project their own feelings and their lives onto me, and they see how hard this is. It's hard. It's hard being a woman out there. It is obviously challenging with some of the things that are said that are not even personal to me so much as they are about women.

"And I think women just sort of shake their head," Clinton continued. "My friends do. They say, 'Oh, my gosh, this is so hard.' Well, it's supposed to be hard. I'm running for the hardest job in the world. No one has ever done this. No woman has ever won a presidential primary before I won New Hampshire. This is hard. And I don't expect any sympathy, I don't expect any kind of, you know, allowances or special privileges, because I knew what I was getting myself into.

"Every so often I just wish that it were a little more of an even playing field," she said, "but, you know, I play on whatever field is out there."

I play on whatever field is out there, but it would be good if you could keep remembering how hard this is. After all, I'm a woman.

Sheesh. I don't think her whining is doing women any good, do you?

Cheese with that whine?

Labels: News, Political Observation

This breaks my heart. I can only imagine what I'd have felt if it had been Nathan.

HALLOWELL, Maine (Feb. 27) - Jonathan McCullum was in perfect health at 155 pounds when he left last summer to spend the school year as an exchange student in Egypt.

But when he returned home to Maine just four months later, the 5-foot-9 teenager weighed a mere 97 pounds and was so weak that he struggled to carry his baggage or climb a flight of stairs. Doctors said he was at risk for a heart attack.

McCullum says he was denied sufficient food while staying with a family of Coptic Christians, who fast for more than 200 days a year, a regimen unmatched by other Christians.

But he does not view the experience as a culture clash. Rather, he said, it reflected mean and stingy treatment by his host family, whose broken English made it difficult to communicate.

"The weight loss concerned me, but I wanted to stick out the whole year," he said in an interview at his family's home outside Augusta.

Friends and teachers at his English-speaking school in Egypt urged him to change his host family, but he stayed put after being told the other home was in a dangerous neighborhood of Alexandria.

After returning to the U.S., he was hospitalized for nearly two weeks. The 17-year-old has regained about 20 pounds, but his parents say he's not the same boy he was when he left under the auspices of AFS Intercultural Programs.

Read the whole story and see pictures.

Labels: Education, News

Obviously China's motives are pragmatic and not moralistic or even humanitarian, but this move would be encouraging to those of us who ache at the thought of forced abortions and abandoned baby girls:

BEIJING (Reuters) - China, worried about an ageing population, is studying scrapping its controversial one-child policy but will not do away with family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said on Thursday.

With the world's biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside.

"We want incrementally to have this change," Vice Minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Zhao Baige told reporters in Beijing.

"I cannot answer at what time or how, but this has become a big issue among decision makers," Zhao added. "The attitude is to do the studies, to consider it responsibly and to set it up systematically."

And how's this for double-minded?

China says its policies have prevented several hundred million births and boosted prosperity, but experts have warned of a looming social time-bomb from an ageing population and widening gender disparity stemming from a traditional preference for boys.

Still, the government has previously expressed concern that too many people are flouting the rules.

So please, folks, keep killing those little ones until we get this demographic thing sorted out. We'll let you know when.

China may scrap one-child policy, official says

Labels: News, Social Observation

My sides are splitting...this is one funny piece!

hat tip: Trish

Labels: Fun

My 48 hour absence can be explained by a lack of internet access at the hospital where I spent the past two nights, trying to sort out an "event" which may or may not have been related to my heart. Today I underwent a cardiac catheterization following some abnormal results on a chemical stress test on Monday (which was, by the way, possibly the most terrifying single experience of my life).

Tonight, armed with excellent results which ruled out coronary artery disease, I am back in my own bed...and it never felt so good. Still don't have a good answer for the chest/shoulder/arm pain, but having gone through the whole battery of diagnostic tests, I am breathing a little easier and enjoying genuinely edible food and drink in the comfort of Granny's House.

(Note to self, 1a: Always remember you would rather die of a heart attack than eat the food on a hospital cardiac tray.)

(Note to self, 1b: Always remember you would trade two extra years of life for Steph K.'s cheesy potatoes, even if you don't know what they're really called.)

Labels: Food, Health

I have little to say today. I've been sitting in a chair all week, when I wasn't at the hospital doing tests...so there hasn't been much stimulation. I'm beginning to crave cooking again and spent hours gathering recipes, transferring them to my database, and planning another bulk cooking day. Never mind that I can't be on my feet. I can dream.

And while I'm sitting I can continue the search for the perfect muffin tins.

Oh, and for the perfect minivan. It's that time again...we have to have something at least before our Tennessee vacation in August, and it appears that it will have to be well before that. I told The Papa that as long as it has great cup holders and is MP3 ready, I'm good.

I'm sure that, like me, you're all shocked and still recovering from the news that Cuba has just named Raul Castro as its new "president". Will wonders never cease.

The girls are hard at work getting the next kids' musical ready for our church. They're going to be doing Kids' Praise 3, The Funtastic Family. This musical speaks to the Body of Christ and how we are all integral parts of the Body. Very appropriate, because the sense of community that was built among our families during the Christmas musical and how much it taught the kids about being a family was incomparable. And now, they'll be learning even more about the contribution that each of us makes to the whole. It's really "gluing" us together in new ways.

Just another 90 degree February day here in south Texas. I want to go vacation in Minnesota.

It's time to get new glasses again. I hate the process almost as much as I hate buying a new swimsuit. But nearly three years has made changes in one eye that I can no longer deny. My scare with my eyes this year makes farsightedness seem harmless by comparison, but it is a nuisance and one I must take care of in the next month. Given my artificial joints, several new crowns on my teeth, and the losing battle to cover my gray, I'm quite ready to trade in my body for a new one :-)

Anyone care to join a pool for speculation on who the VP choices will be?

Have a great week!

Labels: Homemaking, Music, News, Political Observation, Sundays, Weather

If you're fascinated and/or baffled by the appeal of the Obamas, read this thoughtful piece by Peggy Noonan.

Labels: News, People, Political Observation, Social Observation

Artist hanged herself after aborting twins

Labels: News

Here's a very interesting article, describing changes in America's demographic and real estate bases. Although the eventual extent of the changes may be somewhat overstated, I see the trends as accurate and therefore worth paying attention to. They will affect schools, churches, business, charities, and personal and community relationships in the coming half-century and might just influence where you want to invest your real estate dollars...

The Next Slum?

Labels: Social Observation

It should be no wonder that a generation experiencing spiritual alienation and emptiness would be ready to flock to a messianic figure who promises "hope"... People WANT to believe in someone who speaks in platitudes but requires no accountability. They can't get that from God, but they can get it from Obama...

WASHINGTON -- Much has been made of the religious tenor of Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Reports of women weeping and swooning -- even of an audience applauding when The One cleared his proboscis (blew his nose for you mortals) -- have become frequent events in the heavenly realm of Obi-Wan Obama.

His rhetoric, meanwhile, drips with hints of resurrection, redemption and second comings. "We are the ones we've been waiting for," he said on Super Tuesday night. And his people were glad.

Read more analysis of the Church on the (Ba)Rock here:

Obama the Messiah of Generation Narcissism

Labels: Political Observation

I'm sitting here with my cup of coffee on the last morning of our spring break week, somehow feeling mildly cheated. It was, of course, a true break for the kids, but I'm wondering why it feels like I got almost no break! And the worst part is, it's still another month until spring! I'm thinking about calling this week "winter break" and scheduling spring for another day...but we do have a certain amount of stuff that needs to be covered this year and I'm afraid that another week of break would mean we'd be finishing up just before time to start back in August...

On days like this it helps for me to take a deep breath and remember my calling. On any given day I'd probably choose a day off, but the truth is that never would I trade in this life we've built for the relief of the yellow school bus or any other alternative. Sometimes it seems like I can't possibly have the stamina to finish this task, which won't be complete until right before my 60th birthday. And yet with 23 years already behind me, it's also unthinkable that I won't.

When God called us to start down this road, it's a good thing He didn't tell me I'd be walking it for 29 years or I'd have turned in my license right then. After all, we had only three children then, and we only saw homeschooling (for us) as a transition to institutional schooling. Instead, it became a transition to...college. But along the way, He solidified our vision for the future of our expanding family, and through all the challenges of the years that followed we've never been sorry or seriously thought about looking back. (Okay, there was that one time when...oh, never mind.)

So, as our "break" ends and I sit looking at the stack of manuals staring back at me, I have to breathe a prayer of thanksgiving. God has allowed me to get within six years of the finish line and I will not sit down yet. Well, yes of course I'll sit since that's about all I can do right now. But inside, I'm still running the marathon. And I will rely on the Giver of the task and the vision to keep me running until the job, at least this part of the job, is complete. We're getting close.

And in that sense, it's nearly spring.

Labels: Homeschooling

TAMPA - A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said.

If convicted, Baines faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for a federal charge of attempting to board an airplane with a concealed dangerous weapon. He is currently serving a 30 daysentence after pleading guilty Monday to a state misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration.

When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.

Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.

But the TSA has to waste time dusting my eyeshadow for evidence of explosives. Whatever.

Labels: News

Okay, well scratch that plan.

OCALA, Fla. -- A Central Florida mother of four boys was arrested on Tuesday after telling authorities that she went "on strike" more than a month ago, leaving the teens home alone for hours every day because they would constantly fight.

'On Strike' Mom Accused Of Neglect

[When you click on this story, check out the picture of the mother. 33 years old? Those boys HAVE done a number on her!]

Labels: Theater of the Absurd

It's interesting when even the liberals in Boston like Margery Eagan are getting nervous about their guy. I hope that once he wins the nomination, this gets really contagious:

I’m an Obama girl and my man throttled Hillary Clinton, again, Tuesday night.

Suddenly, the impossible is real.

Suddenly, I’m nervous. Very nervous, actually.

Go read the whole thing. Very interesting account of misgivings from the inside.

When backing Barack feels like joining a cult

Labels: People, Political Observation

Anyone who's followed my blog for any length of time knows that I adore Peggy Noonan. I haven't agreed with her on some of the important topics of this election cycle, but I believe she's an unparalleled observer of politics and of human nature. I believe that if our paths had crossed somewhere, we'd have become friends. I know that because of statements like this:

If there is a part of you that loves politics, loves the sheer brunt force of it, the great game of it, you are waking up each morning with a spring in your step. “What happened last night?”

Not everyone understands the spring in my step, but Peggy does.

Labels: People, Political Observation

Well it was a very rough morning, but the good news is I don't have to go back tomorrow after all. The pictures they got today were evidently conclusive (though I don't know what the conclusions were) and so they've canceled the set they were going to do tomorrow morning.

The other upside from the past two days is that I've gotten to listen to five hours of my latest audio book. That's a nice little perq :-)

Now I wait for my doctor's plan.

Labels: Health

After a day like I had, it's very nice to get to come home to a primary or two. I need the entertainment!

Note to self: Never again fool yourself into thinking you've gotten into a comfortable position in/on a metal trough where they restrain your neck, arms, and legs and you have to lie perfectly still for two hours. Not gonna happen.

Maybe it's just me, but is this long overdue?

Medicare Won't Pay Hospitals for Errors

By LAURAN NEERGAARD,

AP

Posted: 2008-02-18 14:37:32

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's a new way to push for patient safety: Don't pay hospitals when they commit certain errors. Medicare will start hitting hospitals where it hurts in October, and other insurers are hot on the trail.

That has the nation's hospitals exploring innovative programs to prevent injury and infection: Hand-washing spies. Surgical sponges that sound an alarm if left in the body. Even a room sterilizer that promises to wipe out bacteria left lurking on bedrails.

"Money talks," says Dr. Steven Gordon, infectious disease chief at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. "Every hospital CFO, this gets their attention."

And patients' first sign that something is changing may involve lessening of a big indignity: Today, one in four hospitalized patients is outfitted with a urinary catheter. The tubes trigger more than half a million urinary tract infections a year, the most common hospital-caused infection.

Yet many patients don't even need catheters - they're an automatic precaution after certain surgeries - and many who do have them for days longer than necessary. Why? The University of Michigan reported the first national study of catheter practices last month, finding nearly half of hospitals don't even keep track of who gets one. Fewer than one in 10 hospitals does a daily check to see if the catheter is still needed, a simple but proven infection-reducing system.

Yeah, I've had more than one infection caused by those "automatic precautions." As a matter of fact, there's close to a 1 to 1 correspondence between their precautions and my bad outcomes.

And I've got horror stories about basic hygiene procedures in hospitals...don't even get me started. The idea that Medicare or any insurance would be forced to pick up the tab when a hospital actually causes and infection turns my stomach...

Medicare Won't Pay Hospitals for Errors

Labels: Health

The caravan is home from WholeHearted Mother and I've already gotten to hear several stories (including one involving the hotel manager? You girls know who you are...) about how great the weekend was. I'm already salting away my nickels for next year :-)

It's been another interesting political week. It's looking more and more like it might take Superman "superdelegates" to decide between the two Dems left standing. Hmmm...maybe they'd rather have the Supreme Court decide? And did you get a glimpse of the press conference where Romney endorsed McCain? Have you EVER seen body language like that?

The week is going to be a crazy one for me. I have to get a crown put on one of my teeth tomorrow, and then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I'll be at the hospital getting my radioactive portraits done again. I'm thinkin' I'm going to get a lot of reading done.

This week I finished Beneath a Marble Sky. I'm going to highly recommend it if you:

*are very interested in India
*want to understand more about the history of the Muslim/Hindu conflict
*are fascinated by the Taj Mahal
*love historical fiction
*appreciate a well-told story
*want insight into the plight of Muslim women

I will caution you that there are some very graphic, disturbing portions, but in my opinion they are tastefully told with no more detail than necessary for the reader to understand the tragedy. I read it very slowly and I'm glad...it's the kind of book to savor and not devour. It was time well spent.

Another huge beef recall today. Wow, it's almost enough to make me a vegetarian even though I am philosophically opposed to the idea of not eating red meat :-)

And if you're interested in and/or appalled by the decline of the intellectual life in our nation and would like a look at how it might be affecting us in this current election cycle, read Susan Jacoby's article, "The Dumbing of America." Never mind that Jacoby would probably dump many Christians in the intellectual trash heap; her observations are valuable nonetheless. She begins:

"The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself." Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today's very different United States. Americans are in serious intellectual trouble -- in danger of losing our hard-won cultural capital to a virulent mixture of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and low expectations.

My crazy schedule this week is making it necessary that we call it spring break for school purposes. Which means that I don't have to be sitting at the copy machine tonight running off maps and assignment sheets. YEA!

But for those of you not on spring break, here's my contribution to your science lesson:

A little girl asked her mother, "Mama, how did the human race appear?"

The mother answered, "God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made."

Two days later, the little girl asked her father the same question.

"Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race developed."

The confused girl returned to her mother and asked, "Mama, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God and Papa says they were developed from monkeys?"

The mother answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about the origin of my side of the family and your father told you about his."

Snip, snip, that's all folks!

hat tip: Jack B.

Labels: Books, Food, Homeschooling, Political Observation, Sundays, WholeHearted Mother

The rain outside has matched my mood. It's been a hard day, sitting here at home while my daughters, both biological and "adopted", are at the WholeHearted Mother Conference. Year after year, the conference has ministered to me in my walk as a homeschooling mom. And I've seen it become the event that so many in our group savor and look forward to as well, giving me multiplied joy...

The silver lining is that I've been able to use some of the hours today to pray for Sally as she speaks, and to pray for the band of moms from San Antonio who attended. I believe that God has spoken to each mother, and that what they've heard will accompany them home as they return to mother with whole hearts. Much as I'd like to have been there, they don't need me for that :-)

Labels: Mothering, WholeHearted Mother

One of my goals for today was to FINALLY get my iTunes library and data switched from my old laptop to my new one. It's not as easy as it should be...it's confusing, counterintuitive, and frustrating. BUT...my knight-in-shining-armor figured it out today and I now have all my music and audiobooks on this machine.

Not all my problems are over. The whole structure of iTunes makes about as much sense as electing Hillary. I hate applications that take longer to learn than they're worth. I'd like to see a wholesale overhaul of the whole iTunes system, moving toward something truly enjoyable to use. Apple has made huge strides in a lot of areas....I hope this one catches up soon.

Labels: Music, Technology, The Papa

Apparently there is nothing illegal about this:

Superdelegates get campaign cash

Labels: News, Political Observation

I've just made the very difficult decision to stay home from the WholeHearted Mother Conference this weekend. The group will make the trip without me and I'll stay here and pray for them. The logistics of making the trip just presented too many risks with my leg in the current predicament. And I will be at the hospital Tuesday through Thursday of next week getting more tests run to rule out a deep infection before the upcoming surgery, so I've got more than enough on my plate and need to spend the weekend resting.

To all those of you who are going without me, I hope you have a wonderful time!

Labels: Health

Well whaddaya know...Mitt Romney will endorse McCain. Won't the radio talk-show hosts love this.

And I might have been too hasty about Hillary. It was a nice thought while it lasted :-)

Labels: News, Political Observation

Something's up....I'm looking for Hillary to pull out of the presidential race within 24 hours. I could be wrong, but the past 24 hours have brought too much bad news. I think that as much as it will go against her grain, Hillary has made the decision to pull out before any more embarrassing defeats and save herself for the next election should Obama lose.

It's the only chance she has to salvage her presidential ambitions.

Labels: News, Political Observation

An update on the Never Ending Story:

I spent more than five hours of my day getting my (radioactive) portraits taken. As I left I was informed that they wanted me for another sitting...an indium scan which will require three DAYS of my time. Exactly how soon they can get that scheduled wasn't clear, and you can be sure that no 5x7 reprints will be available.

In the meantime, my surgeon wants me to go back to walking with a walker, to avoid any more stress on my leg until they can operate.

You can imagine how cheerful I am about that...

Labels: Health

Back when my older kids were still in school, I occasionally ran across teachers that I suspected were in or nearly in this category:

A retired teacher admitted to not being able to read, write or spell during his 17-year teaching career at a California high school, according to a report.

John Corcoran managed to graduate high school and college without ever learning basic skills, 10News.com reported on Monday. Teachers passed Corcoran from grade to grade and disciplinary problems helped hide his lack of skills.

He cheated in high school by turning in other students' work, earning his diploma in 1956 from Palo Verde High School in Blythe, Calif.

"I couldn't read words but I could read the system and I could read people," Corcoran said.

Evidently, this is one of the easiest professions for people to fake literacy (and competency) because of the culture of protection and because of union rules that create a bureaucratic nightmare of a maze to get a teacher evaluated and dismissed. Having seen the silly mounds of paperwork that teachers are now forced to submit in documentation of their every activity, I'm surprised that some people are "smart" enough to continue the charade for so long...but it happens.

If your fourth-grader is having trouble reading, see if you can get him in a class with a teacher who actually reads aloud to the class...

Former Teacher Admits to Teaching for 17 Years Without Ability to Read or Write

Labels: Education

'Twas nice while it lasted. The amazing thing about Huckabee's numbers is that it was all done on a shoestring. And with so little to lose, it's no wonder he stays in. It's not like Mitt Romney spending his kids' inheritance and deciding he can't write any more checks. Huckabee has nothing to lose but the shoestrings.

At the very least there's a fresh sense that conservatives are not happy with McCain. No, many of them aren't thrilled with Huckabee either, but at least it's a place to put a protest vote. And the protest in Virginia nearly prevailed.

Labels: News, Political Observation

Ever the realist, I am under no illusion that the current numbers will hold...but the results in Virginia are astounding tonight! As Pam said a few minutes ago, "This is TOO MUCH FUN!"

Labels: News, Political Observation

By ROBERT BARR,

AP

Posted: 2008-02-12 05:23:27

LONDON (AP) - England's commissioner for children and a civil liberties group joined in on a campaign Tuesday to ban high-frequency devices intended to drive misbehaving children away from shops and other areas.

The so-called "Mosquito" device emits high-frequency noise which is audible - and annoying - to young ears, but generally not heard by people over 20.

"This device is a quick fix that does not tackle the root cause of the problem and it is indiscriminate," English Children's Commissioner Al Aynsley-Green said.

The campaigners claim that about 3,500 of the devices, made by a Welsh company, are in use.

Aynsley-Green said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio that the devices do not tackle the real problem, which is that children have no place to gather other than on the streets.

"I think it is a powerful symptom of what I call the malaise at the heart of our society," he said.

"I'm very concerned about what I see to be an emerging gap between the young and the old, the fears, the intolerance, even the hatred, of the older generation toward the young."

Labels: Fun, Technology

In all the years I've been having the discussion, I've never run across a single college education major who said her degree actually made her a better teacher. And a few very honest grads have said that they were teaching "in spite of" their degrees.

Watchers of the educational establishment know that the past two decades have done nothing kind for teachers' colleges. Most have become liberal enclaves for the nourishment of "multicultural" (read: leftist) philosophy...philosophy that has little to do with true diversity and everything to do with packing the ranks of educators with clones of the radicals of my generation.

Once in a while, someone actually tries to "out" these ivory-tower residents who've long forgotten that their mission was once to educate children in the basics. This week, surprisingly, it's the Manhattan Institute's City Journal:

Jay P. Greene, Catherine Shock

Adding Up to Failure

Ed schools put diversity before math.

A good education requires balance. Students should learn to appreciate a variety of cultures, sure, but they also need to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Judging from the courses that the nation’s leading education colleges offer, however, balance isn’t a goal. The schools place far more emphasis on the political and social ends of education than on the fundamentals.

To determine just how unbalanced teacher preparation is at ed schools, we counted the number of course titles and descriptions that contained the words “multiculturalism,” “diversity,” “inclusion,” and variants thereof, and then compared those with the number that used variants of the word “math.” We then computed a “multiculturalism-to-math ratio”—a rough indicator of the relative importance of social goals to academic skills in ed schools. A ratio of greater than 1 indicates a greater emphasis on multiculturalism; a ratio of less than 1 means that math courses predominate. Our survey covered the nation’s top 50 education programs as ranked by U.S. News and World Report, as well as programs at flagship state universities that weren’t among the top 50—a total of 71 education schools.

The average ed school, we found, has a multiculturalism-to-math ratio of 1.82, meaning that it offers 82 percent more courses featuring social goals than featuring math. At Harvard and Stanford, the ratio is about 2: almost twice as many courses are social as mathematical. At the University of Minnesota, the ratio is higher than 12. And at UCLA, a whopping 47 course titles and descriptions contain the word “multiculturalism” or “diversity,” while only three contain the word “math,” giving it a ratio of almost 16.

Labels: Education, Homeschooling, Theater of the Absurd

Well, it's turning out to be quite a year for those of us who can't get enough of the political suspense. This weekend's primary and caucus results have only heightened that suspense and kept me glued to the TV and to RealClearPolitics.com. The strength, albeit on different levels, shown by Obama and Huckabee and the resultant tremors in the respective parties have made it a race to watch down to the summer conventions. When's the last time we saw that??

(And maybe that's one of the reasons I haven't even NOTICED the writer's strike? There's no series better than the real one this year!)

Tim has had a sad case of the genuine flu all week. You know, the kind that there's now a medicine for, as long as you know what you've got within the first 24 hours? Well who ever knows they've got the flu and could manage to get in to see a doctor within the first 24 hours? We didn't, and so he's had a very hard week.

I think I've mentioned before that in 34 years of marriage I've been a complete loser in the area of choosing and keeping vacuum cleaners. Well you can add to that, muffin pans. I have a love/hate relationship with them, and I've never found a kind I'm completely happy with. I hate non-stick (after the first two weeks), I hate anything that rusts, I hate flimsy ones that warp, I hate dark ones that make too much crust, I despise silicone ones, and I can't bear the thought of shelling out $40 for the kind I think I would REALLY like, which is commercial grade 18/10 stainless steel. What's your favorite?

Another thing we're in the market for at Granny's House is new phones. We're very picky--there are a lot of "must haves" on our list. Can't seem to find one set with everything we've become accustomed to. But we don't have long to locate a new set, as half of our system is out and we could be left with only cell phones soon. Which, you might say, should be fine. But as long as we have some kids who are old enough to be left in the house alone but don't have their own cell phones, that's problematic. We can't leave them without a land line. So the search is on!

I hope to finish a couple of books this week. My stack grows taller all the time and I haven't made much progress lately...I need a vacation just for reading!

The week ahead in my life can be characterized by one symbol: ? Actually, that goes for more than this week, but right now I can't look any farther down the road. My plans for the WholeHearted Mother Conference, which starts Friday, are up in the air, as are plans for nearly everything else. I'm hoping to have some clarity tomorrow about the timeline but I'm not holding my breath, either. I'd only pass out :-)

So...I'll breathe deeply and enjoy each day as it comes. As I hope you will, too...

Labels: Health, Homemaking, Political Observation, Sundays

Labels: Kids

For me, it was tax day.

No, it's not my favorite thing to do and even less so this year. But considering yesterday's news, it was about all I could do productively and not risk hurting my leg some more. So I choose to be grateful to have had these hours to work pretty much interrupted.

But it HAS made me rather wistful for the man who wants to put a Going Out of Business sign on the IRS :-)

Labels: Political Observation

ATHENS, Greece (Feb. 8) - Analysis of a 40,000-year-old tooth found in southern Greece suggests Neanderthals were more mobile than once thought, paleontologists said Friday.

Analysis of the tooth - part of the first and only Neanderthal remains found in Greece - showed the ancient human had spent at least part of its life away from the area where it died.

"Neanderthal mobility is highly controversial," said paleoanthropologist Katerina Harvati at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Wonder if they were into timeshares? There were probably some really good deals for snowbirds back then.

Tooth Scan Reveals Neanderthal Mobility

Labels: Fun

Gosh. We can't even enjoy our '60's illusions anymore. What went wrong with our world??

Music cannot change the world, says Neil Young

Canadian folk rock legend Neil Young said he has lost all hope that music can change the world, as he presented a documentary about his 2006 anti-war concert tour at the Berlin film festival on Friday.

"I know that the time when music could change the world is past. I really doubt that a single song can make a difference. It is a reality," Young told reporters.

The time is PAST? There was a time when a single song could have changed the world?

Come on, if this couldn't have done it, nothing could:

You, who are on the road,
Must have a code that you can live by.
And so, become yourself,
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by.
And feed them on your dreams,
The one they picks, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

It was the acid, man....

Labels: Music, Theater of the Absurd

It was supposed to be routine.

I went to my surgeon today for my 3-month followup appointment. Got my xrays taken and then went in to wait for the doc.

Doctor comes in with a warm greeting and asks how I am. Well...that's a good question. Over the past month I have had increasing pain in the area of my bone graft. This has been rather discouraging since I had finally returned to a pretty normal life and had thought for a couple of months that the operation had been a complete success. The new pain was not the same as I had had the surgery for, and so I let myself be in complete denial for a couple of weeks before even mentioning it to The Papa.

I explained all this to the doctor. He spent a couple of minutes maneuvering and mashing my leg trying to reproduce the pain and, being very successful, just about made me fly through the ceiling at one point. Then he left the room and said he was going to look at the xrays.

After what seemed like a very long time, he popped his head back in the door and said, "Come across the hall. I have some xrays I want you to see." I gladly followed, thinking he just wanted to show me what a beautiful job he had done on the bone graft and how well it was faring. (Orthopedic surgeons tend to use xrays like artists use portfolios.)

On two screens across the hall sat two xrays: the immediate post-op and today's. My eyes aren't great, especially at reading xrays, but there, clear as day, was today's picture...with a horizontal crack running right through the middle of the graft. I was stunned.

More stunning still was the doctor's concern that the fracture was running through the adjacent part of my femur. His next question was wondering whether the fracture had been there before the graft and had then cracked the graft at the point of stress, or whether the graft had given way first and then transferred stress back to the bone, allowing it to crack.

It became clear in the next half hour how concerned he was. He sent me straight up for lab work to rule out infection, then down to radiology for a CT scan. Stat CT scans are rare at this hospital, but there it was. I went back to his office with John and he explained it all in detail to both of us, driving home the point that I was facing another surgery and fast. He wants a nuclear bone scan first, and then perhaps an indium scan, and then he and the other doctors will do the surgical planning. Depending on how fast we can get the nuclear scan done (by Wednesday at the latest) I could be back on the operating table next week.

This will be a more complicated procedure than last time. They will open up the hip on the opposite side and harvest some of my pelvic bone to fashion two pieces to graft onto my femur. Whether this will all be done in one session I'm not clear. And right now that's all I want to think or write about that part.

I'm trying to stay away from the emotions connected with all this today. I came home and promptly went to sleep, always my escape of choice. There are so many things to be considered right now, not the least of which is being very careful not to, as the doctor euphemistically phrased it, "complete the fracture." A gentle way of saying we don't want to crack it all the way through.

So...my adventures aren't over yet.

At least I'm never bored.

Labels: Health

Peggy isn't always right.

But her perspective is always important.

Can Mrs. Clinton lose?

Labels: Political Observation

...I'm wondering if there could be a more politically savvy move than naming this senator as his VP. What, you say? A woman with conservative cred, and one with EXPERIENCE? Hmmm...wonder how Hill would come back at that??

I'm not predicting, or even giving you my choice, just thinking out loud here...

Labels: Political Observation

Very good article today from Jonah Goldberg.

Families are civilization factories. They take children and install the necessary software, from what to expect from life to how to treat others. One hears a lot of platitudes about how children are "taught to hate." This is nonsense. Hating comes naturally to humans, and children are perfectly capable of learning to hate on their own. Indeed, everyone hates. The differences between good people and bad resides in what they hate, and why. And although schools and society can teach that, parents imprint it on their kids.

As a conservative, I'm a big believer in the importance of tradition, which writer G.K. Chesterton dubbed "democracy of the dead." But tradition can only be as strong as it is in the people who pass it on. And so, when I read that 23 percent of British teens think Winston Churchill is no more real than Spider-Man, it makes me shudder at the voluntary amnesia of society, the wholesale abdication of parental responsibility that represents.

If you wonder why the picture of the Three Stooges, you'll have to go read Goldberg's piece. You might learn something about princesses as well...

hat tip: The Papa, again

Labels: Children, Education

If you think we Americans look silly!



hat tip: The Papa (who else??)

Labels: Fun

Today, the landscape changes. Kudos to Romney for refusing to stay in until the party was in total shreds. Some argue that this is already the case...but there's time now to repair things and allow the Democrats to finish shredding each other...

I'm not happy with our choices this year. I'm confident that God is in perfect control.

Labels: News, Political Observation

It looks like Mitt Romney is getting ready to announce he's pulling out of the race.

Labels: News, Political Observation

It's fun to hear about some new technology that I can take advantage of, something that makes everyday life easier or more productive or even more fun. What makes me giggle is when there's something that comes out with a big fanfare and I've already been using it and come to take it for granted. I woke this morning to this:

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Online banking service provider CheckFree Corp. is rolling out technology that could mean consumers will no longer have to go to a bank branch to deposit checks.

Called Remote Deposit Capture, the technology lets people scan checks through their home computers and deposit them electronically has been around for several years, but it has been used mainly for businesses.

Customers want to be able to deposit checks without having to go to banks, said Rod Springhetti, CheckFree's vice president of global strategic marketing, and banks want to be able to offer that.

"I think the ability to remotely capture a check will become part of the standard features and functions of online banking," Springhetti said.

CheckFree said the service is available starting this week for any consumers who bank online, as long as their banks offer it.

REALLY? Well I wonder if they know that my bank, USAA, has offered this service for more than a year now! I may never go to a bank again, as everything my bank offers can be done online, including depositing checks. We scan them in, click a few times, and the money is instantly in our account, verified within seconds.

I often marvel at how much life has changed in the past twenty years. I would never have imagined...

Labels: Technology

It's always easier to look BACK and think, "We almost elected HIM??" than it is to look ahead and see how foolish we're going to look later if we do. (Someday we may be looking back at Hillary and thinking, "We almost elected HER??")

Here's a taste of what I mean:

Labels: News, Theater of the Absurd

I'd never have believed this a few weeks ago...

Labels: Political Observation

Last night I had interesting email exchanges with many of you. Some wanted to know my thoughts on the returns, some had their own observations for me, and a couple (you know who you are) wrote to rib me about how crazy I am for paying attention to all of this.

The winner: Steph K. got off a nursing shift and emailed me at 1am, wanting to know if I was awake and would I please catch her up on what had gone on during the evening. Of COURSE I was awake, and of COURSE I caught her up! At 1:30 she emailed back (and by this time I was asleep) to give me her very intelligent musings on politics, the opposition, and the sovereignty of God.

You go, girl!

Labels: People, Political Observation

While watching the returns last night and, in between, the shrill screams of Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh claiming they'd rather support a Democrat than John McCain, I thought about two very dangerous aspects of what some are referring to as "Republican suicide."

Allowing the Democrats to assume control of the legislative and executive branches of government assures our further descent into the Nanny State. Republican and Libertarian idealists who want to let this happen for four or eight years because they haven't gotten their way need to remember that we can't undo HillaryCare when she moves out of the Oval Office. There's never been a major entitlement program that's been repealed or even effectively scaled back once it's entrenched. It's not going to happen.

And the second is even more important: A Supreme Court Justice lasts forever. Well, okay, only until his or her death, but certainly longer than the next president stays in office. Encouraging the election of a Democrat just to show how ideologically pure I am is cutting off my nose to spite my face. I have my tantrum, I get Hillary, and then I have to live for the next four decades (and most of you for much longer) with the judicial branch also effectively under the control of the left wing. Even if we eventually get our way and get a conservative back in the White House, the ghosts of Hillary (or Obama) live on. In black robes.

This morning I read an article that I consider one of the most important of this election cycle. It's the most cogent and persuasive set of words I've come across to explain the importance of the Republicans NOT bailing out just because we haven't gotten Mr. Perfect for a candidate. It makes so much sense that I am compelled to share it.

Here is a teaser:

Those of you who feel soiled by focusing on what the world is today, and operating within it to reach an objective, will eschew this advice. To these people, it’s more important to get the ideology down pat in all its permutations and modifications, then find a candidate who embodies the totality of that philosophy, and then achieve power. Meanwhile, the counter-philosophy will be doing everything it can to solidify grip on the power you seek, so that when the ideology is correct and your white knight arrives, the exercise will be pointless.

Whether you agree or disagree, please go read the whole thing. Yes, it's seventeen paragraphs long and it's intellectually challenging to get through, but even I made it to the end. Please read it. If you don't have time now, bookmark it and come back tonight. It's that important.

(Oh, and I love the title :-) )

Debacalypse Now

hat tip: The Papa

Labels: News, Political Observation

Well, it's 9pm central time and Super Tuesday is not disappointing! It's going to be a nail-biter in some states and I'm sure I'll be up late! If you're not watching and you've come here for the short version, the big surprise so far tonight is how well Mike Huckabee is doing. He's won two states already, ahead in several more, and even in the states he is not winning he is coming in a strong second in many.

On the Dem side, Clinton is coming on pretty strong, stronger than I'd like, but Obama is holding his own. I'm still on the fence about whom I want to see win here, but right now, it's a horse race only a junkie can love :-)

We're still eating leftovers from Super Bowl night so I didn't make any girlie food....I'll have to think of an occasion for that very soon...

Okay, back to watching returns!

Labels: News, Political Observation

No!

It's SUPER TUESDAY!

All right, so it's only 12:57 am on Tuesday, but it's here! 43 contests in 24 states, on this very day! Every red blood cell in my body is moving at double speed :-)

Labels: Political Observation

And to think I got to be this old and never knew that rats had empathy for others. They sing, too, which explains those weird noises in our house in Mississippi...

PETA Calls on China to Respect Rats

Labels: News, Theater of the Absurd

...BUT THE RESULT WAS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!

Labels: Fun

It's 7-3. Just in case you thought I wasn't paying attention.

The manfood is all out of the oven and in the process of consumption. Yep, there's a lot of it.

Could I just stop right here and warn all you girls not to ever, EVER cut up and seed jalapeno peppers without gloves on? Preferably really heavy ones?

Our Greek study continues and it's a hit with every one of my scholars. Too bad every week can't be like this.

Okay, what's up with this. Everyone is all hyped up for the Super Bowl, but I can't seem to generate a bit of interest for a Super Tuesday party. Guess I'll be eating girlie food and watching the returns alone :-(

Did I ever warn you not to buy a Dell printer? Don't ever, ever, not in a million years, buy a Dell printer unless you literally have money to burn. Not even if they pay YOU to take it. You've been warned.

Haven't had much time to read or even listen to books lately, but I'm enjoying Beneath a Marble Sky. Deliciously historic and romantic at the same time.

It was 81 here today. That is just wrong.

This is the week we finish up all the details for our trip to the WholeHearted Mother Conference. Arrangements have been so complicated this year I've almost pulled my hair out a couple of times...but that's because we have a BIG group, and that's a very good thing. I may be shopping for a wig before we go, though!

Tomorrow, I MUST stop and order the next quarter's Tapestry books. Greece can't last forever, even with pleas to the contrary. I was proud of myself for ordering Year 2 Redesigned this week before the price went up, and even got 50% off the old price for signing my name in blood that I would never sell or loan or give any of you my old Year 2 "Classic" (Is that like Coke Classic?). So don't even ask. Kristen lucked out--I had already given her my Year 2, and the contract only said "in the future." Oh well.

I've probably never said this, but I would rather eat guacamole than anything. Even creme brulee.

Our daughter #4 (chronologically, not in our hearts) CJ turns 21 on Saturday! We're going to have her party at her grandparents' in Fort Worth and I'll post pics of the happy occasion next week.

Have a SUPER week!

Labels: Books, Food, Kids, Sundays

I've just returned home with a huge load of...what would you call this...football food.

I wasn't alone.

I can't think of any other day of the year, except maybe the day before Thanksgiving, when the whole city comes to the grocery store at once. And they ALL wanted Ro-Tel. And cream cheese.

Anyway, it's all put away and awaiting the nimble fingers of the four females in the house to turn it into a man-feast. Which we will start doing tonight and finish tomorrow after church. At which time our house will smell strongly of lots of little things wrapped in bacon. There will also be lots of crispy things to be dipped in bowls of gooey things. Bowls that have to be washed up with 2 tablespoons of grease-cutter.

But hey, we're going to have happy men. And though we're not about to admit it, we'll love it all as well. Just not in the same quantities....

And in case you'd like to know what we're having, I got several ideas from this (fabulous) food blog. We're having pretty much everything here :-)

Now, remind me who's playing?

(just KIDDING, guys!)

Labels: Food, Fun, TV

Okay, I'm sorry but Ann Coulter has blown a gasket.

And I'm not just speaking of her ridiculous pledge to campaign for Hillary if McCain is the nominee. Have you heard her today? She really is in bad shape. She needs to room with Britney until she calms down.

Labels: News, Political Observation, Theater of the Absurd